The Sad Man
by FAH3
Summary: A new student at the Xavier insitute looks to control his powers and help in finding his father.
1. A Meeting

This is my first X-Men fic, and I hope I just write a good story for everyone to enjoy. I had the idea for this story ever since I saw the series that used to come on Fox Kids years ago. I like X-Men: Evolution better than I did the Fox series and thought it would be a better way to tell this story. Here's the first chapter, and I hope you readers enjoy.

* * *

The Sad Man

The lone figure sat to himself in the smoke filled room as he sat and slowly sipped on the cold glass of water. He was older than he looked and could have gotten a beer easily, but he thought the alcohol tasted horrible. Why some people liked to drink that swill, he didn't even want to try to know. He let out a deep sigh as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the worn photo. In it was a picture of a beautiful Japanese woman with a well built, burly looking man. The photo had been damaged for a long time and the upper half of the man was missing. Sadly, that also meant the portion of the photo that contained the man's face was gone. He didn't know how the photo had gotten damaged, but it was his most important thing he owned.

The woman was his mother who he hadn't seen in so many years. He didn't even know if she was still alive or not. How he missed her so much. He missed the way she used to hold him when he was scared from a nightmare, and he missed how she used to sing him to sleep. Where was she? Did she even miss him? He knew the only way he might find out was if he found the man in the photo. He didn't know how he was going to, but he had to find him. When he was younger, he had found in when he was snooping through his mother's things. She seemed a little sad when he had asked her about it, but she had told him the photo was of her and his father.

She had told him his father had disappeared and never returned. The damaged photo was all she had left of his father. Well, the photo and himself. He took another gulp of water and sat the glass back down. He put the photo back in his pocket and let out a deep sigh as he glanced at the rest of the bar. Most of the people there looked like something out of a motorcycle magazine cover while a couple of others looked like they were perfect for America's Most Wanted. He glanced down back at the table and finished the glass of water.

How much longer was it going to take to find him. He had been looking for his father since he was twelve years old, and he was now seventeen and getting so tired of looking. From his home in Japan, to this stupid little bar in Montana, he had been looking. What was worse, he didn't know what his father looked like. The photo was damaged, and his the portion that had his father's face was missing.

He kept hoping luck would be with him in his search. He hoped he would find him soon and get off the streets. The only way he had been able to survive was what he was hiding under his gloved hands. Or more to the point, what was _in_ his hands.

He glanced at both of the black and almost worn out black leather gloves he was wearing. He had "borrowed" the gloves three years ago and was amazed they had held up this long. Parts of the gloves were wearing thin and the black was fading into a pale grey. They were a good pair of gloves. A lot of memories were in these old things. Both the good and bad. The only thing left from his home country of Japan. It was going to be sad when he would finally be able to buy another pair.

A few odd jobs kept him from starving to death. Every now and then the money he earned allowed him to either buy some new clothes are spend a night or two in a warm motel room and not underneath a bridge. Sleeping under a bridge always scared him now and then. He didn't know when he would have to defend himself.

"Hey, what's that guy doing in mah seat?" a slurred voice asked from the other side of the room. He could tell that the voice's owner had already had a few too many drinks.

"Come on, Paul. You haven't complained about it before." Another voice said.

"Well I am tonight! I want to kicks mah feet up, and I want mah table to do it!" the slurred voice.

The young man sipped the little bit of water from the melted ice when he felt a heavy hand push on his shoulder.

"Hey you! I want mah chair." The slurred voice said to him, close enough for the young man to smell the heavy amount of vodka on the man's breath.

"Your chair's taken right now, but there are plenty of other empty seats." The young man told the bigger man.

"I don't give a rat's ass! I want mah seat!" the voice said and shoved the young man even harder.

The young man was mentally counting to ten to calm his temper when he glanced to his right to get a look at the man. He was about five foot eleven, he had a thick red beard with a blue bandanna covering hi head. The man looked like he was probably a biker from the smell of exhaust that was coming from him like it was a foul cologne.

"I just want to be left alone, pal. So just walk away and look for another seat." The young man replied as his voice started to get a little deeper.

"Come on, Paul. It ain't worth it." His friend told him.

"I want mah god damn seat, and I'm going ta get it!" the drunk man shouted.

The young man heard the click of a switch blade knife locking into place, and pure anger and instinct took over. He scooted back fast, missing the down stoke of the knife that was in the man's hand. He grabbed the drunken biker by his shirt collar, and slammed his head and back against the hard surface of the table he had been sitting at. Before the biker could move, the young man placed his right fist above the biker's throat. The biker froze into place in an instant as he felt the cold metal of two knives press on either side of his neck. He looked down at the gloved hand that was above his neck and saw that the two knives were actually coming out of his fist! Fear began to grip him as he saw a third knife slowly emerge from in between the other two and felt the tip stop right at his throat.

"I just want to be left alone, got that? Now you're going get up and get the hell out of here. You're not going to say anything, and you're not going to do anything. You're just going to leave. If you don't, I'll cut off your balls and use them as a fucking pair of earrings. You got that?" the young man growled at the drunk as his anger took full control.

The drunk was quickly shaking his head yes as a few tears began to fall from his blood shot eyes. The claws retracted into the young man's hand in an instant and he let go of the drunk's shirt. The man instantly stood up and ran out of the room screaming while everyone just looked at him.

"ANYONE ELSE WANT TO FUCK WITH ME TONIGHT?" the young man shouted to the shocked people. When none of them said anything or moved, he sat back down at the table. "THEN LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!" the young man shouted.

As he heard everyone go about their normal business, he rubbed his gloved hand while he winced in pain. He hadn't gotten used to the pain of those damn things. Every time he felt them rip and tear through his skin, it almost seemed the pain wouldn't ever end. He opened one of the slits in the glove and saw that the open wound was now replaced by a scar. Every time he got a cut, or retracted one of those things, the wound healed almost instantly. Was that why he had gotten those things? Was that why they gave him those claws? Because he could heal fast? Why didn't he just kill the sons of bitches that did this to him? Because that wasn't him, it wasn't in his nature. He couldn't kill.

"That's a good thing to know. It shows that you are better than most of the people you've faced." A voice said to him.

It wasn't drunk, rough, or even angry. Amazingly enough, this voice sounded kind and almost understanding. That voice was most definitely out of place in a bar like this. He looked up to see a bald man wearing a nice suit in a motorized wheel chair stroll up to the table he was sitting at and stop right in front of him.

"What's a good thing?" he asked the bald man.

"That you knew you wouldn't kill the men that did this to you." He simply stated.

"How did you know about that? If you're one of them, I swear I'll,"

"_You're not the only one with secret talents."_ A voice said _inside_ his own head.

It wasn't just any voice, it was the bald man's voice. That's when something in his mind clicked. This old man was like him in a way. He was different from normal people, something special about him.

"What do you want?" the young man asked.

My name is Charles Xavier. I run a school to help young people like yourself gain control over their abilities. I've come to offer you my help." The bald man said to him.

"Look buddy, I've been jacked around too many times. When something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Besides, I'm broke and can't pay any school money to give me a bogus education." The young man said as he wiped his long black hair out his face and stood up to leave.

"I may also have a way of finding someone you're looking for." The bald man said as the young man started to walk off.

"Oh yeah? And who would that be? The tooth fairy?" the young man asked him.

"No. I believe I may be able to help you find your father." The bald man said, and sensed every single thought and emotions in his head come to a grinding halt.

**

* * *

The Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. Logan stood beneath a large old oak tree as he kept an eye on the students as they enjoyed their free day. Hank McCoy, or Beast as the students called him, was teaching a few students on how to understand Shakespeare while Scott and Jean Grey sat together. He knew the two teens were in love with each other and just hoped they didn't do anything stupid. The other students were off playing sports or whatever young kids do. Logan glanced to his left and saw Kurt Wagner talking with his sister Rogue. Not even in his wildest dream would Logan ever peg those two as long lost siblings. Who would have thought?**

Logan wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he enjoyed days like this. The days where everything was peaceful, and there wasn't a sign of trouble. No Magneto and the Brotherhood, or some anti-mutant nuts trying to hunt them down with a giant robot. The memory of that thing still gave him the creeps.

As he enjoyed the day, he began to wonder when the Professor was going to get back. Charles had said he had found a new mutant somewhere in the northwest and took Storm with him to check it out. For all Logan knew was that it meant another snot nosed runt to train. He remembered how every one of the students thought they could go one on one with him when they showed up, thinking it would be easy. As a matter of fact, he hoped he was bringing back a new student. He could use a challenge.

He just prayed to God whoever he was bringing didn't go joy riding. Logan was angry with the student calling himself Ice Man, and two other students, took the X-Jet joy riding and almost got killed. But when they mentioned his bike? Even though they were joking around about his motorcycle, he was ready to tear them a new one. No student ever broke the eleventh commandment. "Thou shall not touch Logan's hog."

Almost as if he had conjured the man out of thin air, the Professor rolled out of the mansion and onto the field. Logan just gave a small smile as he saw the old man rolling towards him. Charles Xavier was the only man Logan fully trusted with his life. There was only one other man that Logan trusted, and that man was frozen in a lab at S.H.E.I.L.D. headquarters.

"How did the trip go?" Logan asked as the professor stopped in front of the tall man.

"It went better than I expected. How was everything here?" Charles asked him.

"A little too quiet for my taste. I was almost beginning to hope Saber Tooth would show up just so I could get some exercise." Logan said. "So do we have a new student, or did he turn you down?" Logan asked the old man.

"We came to an agreement." Professor Xavier said.

"What kind of agreement?" Logan asked as his brain already to thing of problems the new addition may cause.

"I agreed to help him locate his father if he let me help him control his abilities. Of course, it was easier said than done." Charles said.

"Why do I have a bad feeling you're going to ask a personal favor?" Logan asked him.

"You're not far off. Logan, I believe he is going to need your help with his abilities. As well as Rogue's." the Professor said as he signaled Logan to follow him.

"Rogue's help? Why would he need her help?" Logan asked him.

As far as Logan knew, Rogue was a student who didn't have that much to offer. Not unless you were going undercover in the deep south and had to learn the accent.

"Logan, this student is different from the others. It's rare with mutants, but not unheard of. It seems he has almost two sets of abilities." Charles told Logan as they entered the mansion and went to the Professor's office.

Logan raised an eyebrow at what the Professor just told him. Since Logan had joined Charles' little band of heroes, he had met and seen some strange mutants. He also knew that some mutants had a few talents thanks to their mutations, but this was the first time he ever heard Charles put a mutant's powers in those terms.

"What does the kid do?" Logan asked as they entered to cool confines of the large office.

"Logan, I want you to help him because he shares something with you." Charles said as he looked down at Logan's hands.

Logan was confused by this action and began to look at them. There wasn't anything wrong. They were clean, and had a few scars. Only thing out of the ordinary was his,

"You've got to be kidding, Charles. Not another one." Logan said to the old man.

"I'm afraid so, Logan. I was able to read his mind on the way back, and I can tell you this much. He's not a clone of you, and he didn't even know he was a mutant until he went through the same ordeal as you. But you will also need Rogue's help with teaching him how to use his abilities. Logan, he also has the same abilities as she does." Charles told him.

"Holy shit. It's bad enough having the claws, but Rogue's powers? I'm surprised he hasn't gone nuts." Logan said.

He knew Rogue had it rough. She had friends she could talk tp when ever she needed a shoulder to cry on, but it was her powers that made her life complicated. Rogue wasn't able to physically touch any living being. If she did, she drained them of most of their energy, and also had a copy of their memories put into her head. If it was a mutant, she would also get their powers for a certain amount of time. Now Charles found a kid that was in the same boat.

"Wait a minute. What happens if this kid and Rogue?" Logan asked, but the Professor already knew the question.

"I don't know, Logan. Rogue and this young man have been through a lot, and I don't want to risk anything right now. For the time being, I want everyone to help him feel welcomed." Charles said.

"I'll do what I can, Charles. When does the new kid get here?" Logan asked.

"He's already here. He's in the main foyer right now." Charles said.

"So what's the kid's name?" Logan asked as he went to the door.

"Wolverine, his name is Logan."

* * *

X-Men is the property of Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox. I'm not with either company, and I wrote this for fun. 


	2. Getting Settled

I'm glad people are actually reading this story. I've been pounding my brain on how to write this next chapter, and I hope it is to everyone's liking. If some of the story seems off, it's because I never saw the last episodes of X-Men: Evolution. I only watched up to the episode where Rogue and her mother freed Apocalypse. So any info on what hapened afterward is most welcomed.

* * *

Rogue was enjoying this moment with her brother, Kurt Wagner. They had a hard time for a little while after they defeated Apocalypse, but they had managed to get through the rough spots. Like Wolverine, and everyone else, they enjoyed days where nothing was going on. No bad mutants trying to start a war with humanity or training until their limbs felt like they were going to drop off. She hoped the day could last as long as possible. 

"_Rogue, could you please report to my office."_ The voice of the Professor echoed inside her head.

"I knew this was too good to last." Rogue said in her southern accent.

"What is it?" Kurt asked her.

"Professor needs ta talk ta me. I'll be back when I can." Rogue said as she got up and made her way to the lavish mansion.

Rogue began to go over what the Professor might want to talk to her about. Maybe it was about all the powers she had absorbed? Maybe. Some time ago, all the memories and powers she had taken from different mutants began to come out all at once, and it almost drove her insane. The Professor was helping her get control of them.Rogue gave a slight shiver as she remembered how she went nuts. It was also the day she found out Mystique was her mother. Not biologically, but legally.

Rogue finally reached the large oak door to the Professor's office. Before she could knock, the Professor answered her.

"Come in, Rogue." The Professor told her from the other side.

Rogue opened the door to find the Professor talking to someone that was in one of the seats in front of his desk. Rogue could only see the back of his head.

"_Oh great, another one. Probably wants me to show him around or – hello cutie."_ Rogue thought as the young man stood up and turned to face her.

He was about six foot one, he was as broad as Wolverine and had long black hair that went past his shoulders. One thing Rogue noticed right off the bat was his eyes. They were a deep green, almost like jade. He was wearing an old leather jacket, a pair of worn out gloves on his hands, and a t-shirt and pair of jeans that looked like they came from good will.

"Rogue, I'd like to introduce you to our newest student. I want you to help him get settled and let him know where everything is." The Professor told the young woman.

"Okay." Rogue said as she looked at the young man.

Rogue had a crush on Scott Summers for a whileand everyone knew it except Scott himself. Right now, if anyone were to ask Rogue about Scott, her only response would be Scott who?

"I-I'm Rogue." She said and offered her gloved hand to the young man.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Logan." The young man said and gently shook her hand with one of his gloved ones. His voice was a little rough, but also soft at the same time.

"Logan, could you wait outside for a moment. I need to ask Rogue something important." The Professor asked the new student.

"Sure." Logan said and left the office, closing the door behind him.

As Logan stood out in the hall, Wolverine kept an eye on him. He was amazed at how much the new student resembled him!

"He's gotta be a clone or something. Another X23 of Hydra's gone bad." He said to himself.

Logan may have lost many memories when he was given his unique skeleton, but he'd doubt he'd forget something important like a son. The Professor suspected Logan might be his real father, but he wanted to run a few tests before jumping to any conclusions.

"You can stop hiding from me. I could smell you a mile away." The young man said.

"He even talks like me." Logan whispered to himself as he stepped out of his hiding spot.

"So you're Wolverine, right?" Logan asked the older man.

"Yeah, that's me. I take it you're the new guy." Wolverine said as he walked toward the young man, trying to size him up.

"What made you guess? My name's Logan, the Professor told me you had the same thing happened to you?" Logan asked the man.

"You might have to elaborate on that." Wolverine told him, not letting his guard down for a second. He also didn't like bring up the one memory that stuck out above the rest.

The young man frowned and looked down for a second before he took a deep breath.

"You know what I mean. I don't to talk about it that much, but I don't know anyone else who went through the same shit I did." He said.

"I don't like to talk about it either, who would?"

Before Logan could respond, the door opened with Rogue coming out to greet them.

"Hey, Wolverine. I see you met Logan." Rogue said as she saw Wolverine give Logan the once over.

"I did. Get some rest, junior. Tomorrow, you're going to need all the strength you can get." Wolverine said and walked back down stairs.

"Why does that give me a feeling of impending dread?" Logan asked himself while Rogue snickered at his comment.

* * *

In a few moments, Rogue showed Logan to his room with a large mirror in one wall with a queen size bed not too far from it. There was a normal sized dresser with a color flat screen TV and a desk near the window. 

"So I get this room all by myself?" Logan asked as he set his bag on the bed.

"You're lucky. I gotta share mah room with a girl that snores. Sometimes I wish she could just phase through the floor when she does that." Rogue said and earning a raised eyebrow from the new student.

"Long story. Listen, the Professor filled me in on your abilities." Rogue said, trying to get the ball rolling between them.

"Oh. Listen, I understand if you don't want to hang around me." Logan said to her, expecting her to try and run off soon.

"Nah, it's okay. The guy you met has similar powers and he'll be able to help you with, you know. But I'm the one that'll help you with the other one." Rogue told him.

Logan looked surprised when he heard what Rogue told him. When the Professor told him about a student with similar abilities helping him, he half expected a girl with glasses or something. He didn't think that a girl as pretty as Rogue had the same powers he did.

"Y-you have – um – you've got the – Xerox powers?" Logan asked her.

Rogue broke out into a laugh when he said that. After a few seconds, Logan began to laugh at what he said as well. He didn't know any other way to ask it.

"In all mah life, I never heard it put that way. Yeah, that's mah ability." shetold him.

"Sucks, doesn't it? I have to wear gloves, long sleeve shirts, jeans. Do you know how annoying it gets to wear a sweater on a summer day?" he asked her.

"Tell me about it. Try wearing long pants and a long sleeve shirt at the beach when it's almost a hundred degrees." She told him.

"Ouch. Out of curiosity, is that guy's name really Wolverine?" Logan asked her.

"No, that's just some kind of codename he got a long time ago. We each have little nicknames here. Mah brother Kurt is called Nightcrawler. Wolverine's real name is Logan." Rogue told him.

Logan was putting a few shirts in a drawer when he heard Wolverine's real name and dropped them as he came to a dead stop.

"His name is Logan?" he asked her as he fished for the photo in his pocket.

"Yeah, why?" Rogue asked him.

Logan pulled out the photo and looked at the back. His mother had written something on the back, but most of what had been written was gone. Part of his mother's name was still there, but there was also part of a word that was his only clue. The word written on there was _an_. Could it be Logan? No, there's no way it could be that easy, could it? Could that man be his father? He didn't know what his dad looked like, and his build was similar to the guy in the photo. No, it can't be that easy! Life taught him that much.

"Just weird is all. If you don't mind, I'm pretty tired and just want to get some rest." He told her as he put the photo on the dresser.

"Sure. I'll see you later." She said and headed to the door.

"Hey, Rogue. It was nice to meet you. It's been a while since someone's just talked to me." Logan told her.

"You're welcome." Rogue said with a smile as she walked out of the room.

"Get your head out of the clouds, Logan. You know you don't have a snowball's chance in hell." Logan said to himself and finished unpacking.

* * *

Sleep. This is the one thing Logan, young Logan, hated the most. Ever since he was thirteen years old, ever since they did that to him, he never had good dreams anymore. Only nightmares. Every night he re-lived that horrible night. 

He was asleep in the bed with nothing on but a pair of shorts. Despite his powers, he could only stand so much heat from the clothes he had forced himself to wear. As he drifted off into his sleep, the horrific images started to come back to him.

The sounds of gunfire, men in black shooting someone in front of him, then the men in black taking him by force. Then he was put in the tank. The god damn tank filled with the green liquid. Machines were in there with him and cutting him open. Injections of the silver liquid and the burning sensations as it bonded to his bones. All of the faces in masks and the hollow eyes kept looking at him as he thrashed in pain.

Then the aching in his hands started. They were itching like he had a rash, and that's when muscles were ripped and the flesh was torn open.

"**NOOOOO!**" Logan shouted as sat up in his bed as he screamed into the night.

* * *

Rogue was lying awake in bed in her favorite t-shirt that was two sizes two big and a pair jogging shorts and listened to the sounds of Kitty Pride snoring. She wasn't as bad as others she had heard, but her snoring reminded Rogue of a few old vacuums she had heard growing up. She was also thinking about what the Professor had told her earlier that day. 

How was she supposed to help someone use abilities like hers? She didn't even know how to use her own. She can't control her powers they way she wanted, how was she supposed to help Logan with his? That was another part that was weird. The Professor told her that Logan had the same powers as Wolverine, and she assumed he meant the heightened senses. Two Logan's now. That was going to be different.

"**NOOOOO**!"

Rogue and Kitty instantly bolted out of bed when they heard the scream. It sent a shiver down both of their spines when they heard it. Both were out f their beds and into the hall to find its source, but Rogue knew where it was coming from. It was coming from the new student's room.

* * *

Logan rarely slept anymore, even after he took care of who gave him his special skeleton. Every time he drifted to sleep, he would see different images each time. Sometimes it was when he got his claws, and other times it was images from a life he had long forgotten. It pissed him off too many times to count whenever he would see something, hoping it could bring part of his memories back. Then it would just fade away like a nightmare. 

He had wondered down to the kitchen to find something to drink and maybe keep him awake. As he opened the fridge, he let out a small growl of frustration. You'd think in a school filled with teenaged students, you thought someone would try to sneak in some beer. Logan needed a good stiff drink to calm his nerves, and soda or milk wouldn't do it. He grabbed a bottle of water and sliced the top off with one of his claws. He took a big gulp that emptied most of the bottle and let the chill flow through his body to relax his nerves. Too many things for him to think about.

A son. He might actually have a son. How could he forget something like that? More importantly, why would he leave a son to fend for himself? Wolverine might not know much about his previous life, but he knew he would never leave a child behind. Wait a minute, didn't Charles say the kid never met his father? What ifWolverine didn'tknow? If the kid really is his, what ifWolverine didn't know he was going to be a father when he leftthe kid'smother?

"Here's comes another damn headache." Logan groaned to himself as he finished off the bottle and threw it in the garbage.

"**NOOOOO**!"

Logan heard the scream thanks to his sensitive ears. His instincts instantly came to attention as his muscles tensed and his claws came out. Logan bolted for the stairs and up them almost as fast as Quicksilver. He didn't know how he did it, but he beat Kitty and Rogue to the door that was hiding whoever screamed. Logan tried turning the knob, but the door was locked. With one good swift kick, the door was slammed open with part of the door frame in splinters. Rogue, and Kittyfollowed Wolverine intothe room and gasped at what they saw.

"Oh mah God." Rogue said as she saw the sight in front of her.

* * *

They didn't need the room light to see what had happened. There was enough light coming in from hall and the full moon outside to let the three people see what had happened. Logan was sitting up in his bed in a cold sweat, his breath coming out in heavy pants as he winced in pain. His right hand was tightly balled into a fist with three claws coming from in between the knuckles that almost seamed to glow in the moonlight. Where each claw had came out, a trail of blood dripped form the openings and onto the sheet he was lying on. 

"Kid, you all right?" Logan asked as he walked near him.

"**DON'T TOUCH ME!**" Young Logan shouted as loud as he could, letting all the pain from his claws come out with it.

Older Logan took a few steps back from the sudden outburst, and then remembered what Charles had said earlier. The kid had powers like Rogue's, and that meant Wolverine would be out cold as soon as he touched the kid. A few more students had gathered in the hall and were talking about the claws that were coming out of young Logan's hand. Wolverine was about to tell them to go back to bed when Rogue saw something. Something that was making her point toyoung Logan'sleft leg while trying to get Wolverine to look.Wolverine took a few more steps and glanced at the young Logan's left leg.

"GET THE PROFESSOR NOW!" Wolverine shouted and saw Bobby and Jubilee take off like an Olympic track star.

Wolverine looked again and saw that Logan's left hand was still lowered, but that hand also had its claws extended. And the claws had embedded themselves deep into Logan's leg with blood dripping down the limb and onto the bed.

"Hang on, kid. The Professor will know how to treat this." Wolverine said as he got as close as he could without touching Logan.

"Just give me something to bite on." Logan said.

"What?"

"Nevermind." Logan said and ripped the three claws from his leg and let out a loud growl that sounded more like he was holding back a shout.

Every vein and muscle in his neck was exposed as he grimaced in pain from his actions and gritted his teeth hard enough that he was drooling some. His breathing was coming out in quick pants and starting to slow.

"Wolverine, what happened?" Charles asked as he entered the room.

Before Wolverine could say anything, both of them saw the three wounds on his leg start to close on their own accord. Soon, the wounds had sealed and left three brand new scars onthe limb. Logan started to let out shaky breaths as the pain slowly faded from his senses, but his claws were still extended.

"Rogue, help Logan to the medical bay. I want to make sure there isn't any permanent damage.

"Yes, Professor." Rogue said and went to retrieve a pair of gloves that went to the middle of her biceps. Soon, Rogue had an arm around his back and helping him walk to an elevator that would take him to the lower levels.

* * *

An hour and a half later, Logan sat in one of the medical beds and looked at his Adamantium claws. Each were nine inches in length and razor sharp. He found it hard to believe that these things had just ripped through his arms and they didn't have one once of blood on them. 

"How come you haven't, you know, retracted them?" Rogue asked, checking in on him.

"It hurts too much to do that. I'm not ready for that much pain yet." He told her as he looked at them.

"I didn't know you also had those. I thought you're healing factor closed the wounds before you bled." Rogue said.

"Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't." Logan said as he balled his fists lined his hands with his arms.

Logan took a deep breath, and let out a loud groan of pain ashe retracted his claws back into his arms.

"You okay? Wait, stupid question." Rogue said to herself.

"It's okay. I'll be fine in a little bit." Logan said as he lowered his arms and leaned back against the bed.

"Does it really hurt that much?" Rogue asked him. She wanted to ask Wolverine now and then, but didn't risk it. Hey, who would want to ask Wolverine? The guy always looks like he's pissed off at something.

"I have a low pain threshold, so it's almost agony. I don't use those unless I have to." He told her as he began to calm down and felt a cool breeze from the air condition wash over him.

"How long have you had them?" she asked him.

"Four or five years now. I can't remember if I was twelve or thirteen when I got these things." He said.

"That young? What happened?" Rogue asked him.

Logan shuttered as he remembered the nightmare he had not too long ago. Every single image was a memory of that horrible event and he didn't want to repeat it.

"You know, they say talking about it helps." Rogue told him.

Why was she helping this kid? She was always the loner. The only person she had really tried to connect to was either Scott, her crush, or her brother Kurt. Why the sudden change in her character? _Probably because he's got the same powers you do. Besides the sharp claws. "Shut up, brain."_ Rogue thought to herself as she looked at Logan.

Logan took a deep breath as he thought about what the girl in front of him said. He never talked about that day, not even to his best friend. Or should he say his former best friend? Maybe talking about it would help, he didn't know. Of course, little did he know, the older Logan was standing outside and keeping an eye on the two.

"I guess I was twelve when it happened. I don't really remember anymore. I had been living with my best friend Remi when my mother disappeared. Men with guns came. They wanted me and were dragging me away by force. I was kicking and screaming the entire time. Remi's father tried to stop them, and they shot him to death. In front of me, her, and her mother. That's when one of them slugged me. The rest is so jumbled, I don't which came first. I just remember floating in a tank with all these machines. Most of the time, I was asleep but not all the time. They kept me awakewhen they cut me open and doing some weird test. I don't even know how long I was in there. And I could see them. I could see the quacks that did this to me. My x-rays on a wall like posters and they were smiling when I was in pain.

"Then they did something else. I don't know how, but I just remember pain. It was like my whole body was on fire. And – and then it felt like my bones were – red hot pokers or something. Because they burned the most, it felt like there were melting me. When it was done, I kept begging them to kill me." Logan said as his jaw tightened and a few veins in his neck started to bulge.

Wolverine was watching the converssation and was getting andry while hearing Logan's story. How could people do that to a kid? Wolverine remembered his whole ordeal and wanted to destroy something.

"That's when they put that metal in you, wasn't it?"Rogue asked Logan.

"Yeah, it was. I don't how they did it, but they covered my bones with itwhen that stuff was still melted. I don't how I lived through it." Logan said as one tear fell down his face.

"Then the claws came out. It just felt my hands were itching, like when you get a rash. I kept scratching, but it just kept getting worse. I tensed my arms, and then they came out. I could see my blood in the tank when they ripped through my hands. Then I was angry. I was just so mad at what they had done to me.

"They violated me in one of the worst ways and enjoyed it. They were actually toasting to the fact that I had claws! I just wanted to rip them apart! Next thing I know, I'm slashing at the glass and it breaks. I hope I didn't kill anyone, but I just remember slashing at people in black suits and some other people in what looked like scrubs. I just remember running through woods after that. I don't how I got out of there. I found a stream and when I looked in it, my arms were covered in blood. I don't know if it was mine or – oh God, don't let me have killed anyone." Logan said with a shutter.

"If you're from Japan, how come you can speak English so well?" Rogue asked him, trying to change the subject. She saw how upset he was getting and didn't want him to hurt himself again.

"My mother taught me, and I taught my friend's family. Remi always enjoyed the fact she knewanother language." He said to himself.

"Was she okay?" Rogue asked him.

"No. They didn't rape her, thank God, but they beat her pretty bad. She had a scar across her face from one of the guns. I somehow found my way back to their house. I can't explain it, but I could smell her. It turns out I had been gone for almost a year. They cleaned me up and let me rest. But when she tried to hug me a few days later, I found out my other curse. I let her go as soon as it happened, so I didn't drain much. But all her memories are in my head. All of them. Then she was scared of me. I didn't know what to do. My one best friend was afraid of me, and I couldn't touch her anymore. So I ran away. Four to five years without the feel of human contact. I hate being a mutant so much that I tried to kill myself. I tried to slit my wrist, and it healed almost instantly. I don't why, but God hates me." He said as he tried his best to hold back tears.

"No, don't think that. Logan, I know how you feel. I can't touch anyone either. With mah first kiss, I put mah boyfriend in a coma. Logan it's a nightmare, I know." Rogue said as she squeezed his hand with her gloved covered hand.

Outside, Wolverinejust ran his hands through his hair as he let out a slow growl. His kid or not, no one should have to go through that kind of hell. He knew it far too well. He had to do his best to try and keep himself from clawing the wall apart.

"You know, I don't have a handle on mah powers either. I don't how I'm supposed to help." Rogue told him.

"You already did. I actually do feel better. Thanks." He said to her and returned the squeeze.

"So what was your mama's name?" Rogue asked him.

"I don't know her last name. But her name was Yuriko." Logan told her.

Wolverine eyes shot wide open as long forgotten images from his past began to run through his head. He almost fell down to the flooras they came flooding back all at once. Images of a house not too far from a river, and there was a woman. She had long flowing black hair and she almost seemed to be a living porcelain doll. Yuriko, the name kept repeating in his head.

"_Logan, don't leave."_

"_I've got to. I don't have a choice, darlin'. This is the last mission, I swear. Yuriko, I'll always come back for you."_

"I need to talk to Charles." Wolverine said and bolted out of the medical wing.

* * *

Author's Note(s): I'm not an X-Men expert, so I'm using a few things from the movie and the old cartoon show that used to come on Fox. Rogue kissing her boyfriend was from the first X-Men movie. Just thought I'd let the readers know. 


	3. Morning Exercises

Here it is, another chapter. I don't know what was going on, but I jsut had an urge to write on this story. I hope many of you like this story so far. I've been doing som research into the last episodes of the X-Men: Evolution show, so I hope my story won't so have so many holes in it. Comments are welcomed. Enjoy.

* * *

"Charles, I need you to read my mind." Wolverine said as he barged into the office while the Professor was looking at Logan's test results.

"Logan, I need to talk to you first." Charles said as he wheeled around to talk to the older mutant.

"Charles, I need you to do it now! I think that kid might be telling the truth. I heard him mention his mother's name, and a whole bunch of memories came flooding back. I just can't make a lot of them out." Wolverine told him.

"Logan, I know the boy is telling the truth." The Professor said.

"You already ran the DNA test?" Wolverine asked him.

"I have, Logan. You can look at the test results yourself. A 99 match." Charles told his friend while handing him the test results he had been looking at earlier.

Wolverine took the sheet of paper and read what was on it. After a minute or two, Logan took a seat in one of the near by chairs and let out a small groan.

"He's my son. I don't get it, Charles. If I loved his mother, why would I leave?" Wolverine asked as he grew more and more frustrated.

"The memories you've experienced. Have any of them been out of the ordinary?" the Professor asked him.

"Yeah, there's one. I'm with this Japanese woman in an open countryside. She asks me not to leave, but I tell her I have to. Something about a mission and that I'd come back for her. THIS DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE! IF I SAID I'D COME BACK FOR HER, WHY WOULDN'T I?" Wolverine shouted as he jumped up and threw the chair he was sitting in out of the Professor's window.

"I'm guessing this is why you wanted me to read your mind?" the Professor asked while making a mental note to replace that window in the morning.

"Charles, I need to know why I didn't know about him." Wolverine said as he began to cool off.

"Take a seat then. And please don't throw this one out the window." Charles said as he wheeled over to Wolverine.

After Wolverine made himself comfortable, Charles put to fingers to the mutant's head, closed his eyes, and began to concentrate. In a flash, both were seeing the recovered memories. The woman was beautiful beyond compare. Images of both of them together, and they actually seemed to be happy. Every private moment from happiness to sadness seemed to be coming into order. Then the last memory Logan had moments before. He kissed the woman goodbye, and left with a heavy heart.

Then a new memory began to surface. One that Logan had repressed. The settings had changed. It was years later, and the small house was nothing but a pile of burned rubble. Logan seemed to be in a state of shock and scrambled through the debris. He seemed to be franticly looking for something, almost anything. Logan found something in what might have been a bedroom. A small oak box with Logan and the woman's name carved into the top. Logan opened it and found pictures of him with the woman. That's when Logan discovered something else. There two things left in the box that seemed to tear Logan's heart in half. One was a birth certificate to a baby boy. The other item was a photo of the woman with a two year old toddler. Logan crumpled both items in his hands as his claws came from his hands and he began to savagely attack everything he saw. Trees, plants, the remaining beams of the house, anything that was in his way was soon destroyed. Logan then fell to his knees before looking into the sky and shouting out:

"YURIKO!"

Charles broke contact with Wolverine as soon as the memory ended, and Logan started gasping for breath.

"What the hell was that?" Wolverine asked the Professor.

"A repressed memory. From what I can gather about it, you assumed both were dead. The mission you talked about must have led to the events that gave you your adamantium skeleton." Charles said.

"Sometimes I think my head would be perfect for soap opera hacks." Wolverine groaned and placed his head in his hands.

"Logan, what's important now is that you've found each other. He's alive and well, and he needs your help. He's frightened of his abilities and he needs all the help he can get. I won't tell him that you're his father. I'll let you decide when he should know about his parentage." Charles told him.

"How do I do it? Charles, I don't know how to be father. I don't know what to do." Wolverine said.

"You've done well with the students here. Many of them see you as a father figure. For now Logan, just try to help him. Just show him how to use his abilities." Charles told him.

Wolverine just seemed to think for a minute or two. This was some major news for him. Wolverine knew how to be a soldier, a fighter, and a teacher. But a father? Things were going to be pretty interesting.

* * *

Logan was out of the infirmary by early morning and was walking around the grounds. He was wearing another old pair of jeans and a green long sleeve shirt, along with his gloves. His leg felt perfectly fine and gave him no trouble at all. It did bother him that he had a new set of scars to his ever growing collection. Every night, it was same set of nightmares. He always lived through every single moment.

"Hey, aren't you the new kid?" a voice asked behind Logan. Talking was something he didn't do in the morning. He preferred to be alone.

He turned around to see a girl with brown hair tied in a ponytail, wearing a pink shirt over a white T, and a pair of faded blue jeans. It was the girl that was with Rogue when they busted open his door.

"Who wants to know?" he asked her.

"I'm Kitty. I was just wondering how you were doing. I kind of saw the sheets after Rogue took you to the infirmary." She said to him. From the way she moved, it looked like she was a little nervous.

"I'm doing fine. It isn't the first time it's happened and I doubt it'll be the last." He told her.

"Listen, if you need any help finding something just look me up." She said, noticing how withdrawn he was acting.

"Thanks, Half Pint. I'll think about that." He said and started to walk off.

Logan was fixing to walk off when he noticed the weird look on Kitty's face.

"Is something wrong?" he asked her.

"Nothing. It's just that, Professor Logan is the only one who calls me that." she said.

"Oh. Listen, what all do you know about him? Professor Logan?" Logan asked her.

"He keeps to himself a lot. He's also one of the toughest teacher's most of us ever had. But what ever you do, don't touch his bike. I heard some SHIELD agent had to take early retirement after Professor Logan was through with him." Kitty told him.

"Shield?" Logan asked her.

"Long story. You know, a few of us were going to head into town to get some pizza and a movie. You want to come with?" Kitty asked him.

"No thanks. I don't do well in crowds." Logan told her.

Logan turned around and started to walk away when he heard something. It started off small but was growing in volume. Logan started to look for it when he glanced above Kitty and saw a large branch of the tree they were under was breaking. Kitty looked up in time to see the branch snap and start falling towards her.

"LOOK OUT!" Logan shouted and dove for her.

Logan was amazed when instead of pushing her away, he actually went through her and hit the ground head first. When Logan turned around, he saw the branch fall and Kitty passing through it! She stepped through the branch and looked at a stunned Logan.

"Sorry about that. I should have told you, I phase through stuff. Are you okay?" she asked him.

"Um- I'm fine. I think." Logan said as he rubbed his sore head. That's when he noticed that the glove on his hand was missing as he felt bare flesh against his forehead.

"Oh crap! Where's my glove? Where is it?" Logan asked himself as he looked for it.

"Let me help you up and we can look for it." she said as she reached for his bare hand.

"WAIT, DON'T!" Logan shouted, but it was too late.

Kitty grabbed his hand and his other ability immediately kicked in. He saw the veins in her hand start to bulge as their skin made contact. Logan's veins started to bulge as felt her powers flow from her and into him, as well as dozens of memories flashing before his eyes. Logan instinctively jerked his hand away, and saw Kitty fall to the ground with a slight moan.

"W-what happened?" she asked, feeling like she had just run a ninety mile marathon.

"Oh, Christ! I, like, got to get you to the infirmary!" Logan said as he got up and noticed the way he talked had changed slightly.

He found his missing glove and quickly put it back on as he picked up Kitty in his arms and made a mad dash back to the mansion. Logan was focusing getting her to that hospital wing as soon as possible. He reached for the door as soon as he jogged up the steps, only for him to almost fall as he phased through the door.

"Not again!" Logan muttered to himself as he found his way to the infirmary like it was the back of his hand.

* * *

Hank McCoy, or Beast as he was known, was doing a few experiments in one of the labs when he saw someone run past the lab's entrance with Kitty Pride in his arms. Hank followed the figure and saw him lay her on one of the infirmary beds as he looked for something.

"May I help you with something?" Hank asked the young man.

Logan was stunned for a moment when he saw the blue ape like creature, but felt a sense of comfort like he knew him.

"I-I told her not touch me. I tried." He said as he tried to regain his breath.

Hank went to Kitty and saw that she was almost unconscious. Hank immediately started checking her vitals to make sure she wasn't seriously injured.

"What happened?" Hank asked the young man.

"I-I tried to tell her. Something always happens when someone touches me." Logan was repeating as fear and panic started to set in. His instincts were telling him to run, to get out of there as fast as possible.

"Young man, I know you must be upset. But I need to know what happened to her." Hank said in a firm but still gentle voice.

Logan shook his head to try and sort out his memories from hers to try and get his head straight.

"She touched me. Her powers, like, sort of became mine." He told her, noticing he was still talking like her.

"Don't worry, I understand." Hank said as he started to check her vitals again.

Logan saw Kitty on the bed, now unconscious. All she did was try to help and look what happened. Every time someone tried to help, something bad always happened. He was a pariah. Nothing good ever happened. Before Hank could ask Logan anything else, Logan ran.

He was just looking for somewhere to hide or a way to get out. He ran through the hallways trying to find an exit. Panic was jumbling the memories he just received from Kitty and was more lost than a lab rat in a maze. Logan saw a large door was opened and hoped that it was an exit. He ran through it right before it closed behind him, and saw something that amazed him. He was in a large room that was shaped like a sphere with what seemed to be silver panels lining it. The platform extended to the middle of the room where a man sat at some sort of desk with an odd shaped helmet with wires connected to the top of it. The man removed the helmet and turned the chair he was in around to look at Logan. It was Professor Xavier.

"Professor, I'm sorry. I – I didn't mean to,"

"Logan, it's all right. I saw everything and you didn't do anything wrong." He told the young man as he moved the wheelchair towards him.

"She was just trying to help me. I didn't mean to hurt her." Logan said as he began to shake and a few tears ran down his face.

"Logan, she not hurt. She'll be unconscious for a while, but she'll be just fine." The Professor said as Logan slumped against a wall and slid down until he was sitting on the platform.

"She'll hate me, though. That always happens. As soon as people discover my powers they hate me. They either run away or try to kill me. I DIDN'T WANT THIS!" Logan shouted as he leaned his head against the wall. Logan didn't even hear the door he had entered open and a tall, broad figure enter.

"Kid, none of us asked for this. If I had it my way, I'd be somewhere where no one could find me. And I'd also be without certain attachments." The man said and knelt down beside Logan.

The young man looked up to see Wolverine kneeling in front of him. Logan didn't know how, but this guy seemed to understand what he was going through.

"How can you stand it? I mean all those people hating us? And- and these damn things!" Logan growled as his claws came out of his right hand. Logan grimaced as they came out, but soon felt the pain die away.

"Honestly, I don't know. I don't even feel pain anymore when I use them. I just learn to deal with it as it comes." Logan said as he took a seat beside the young Logan.

"My best friend is scared of me because of these. I try not to use them, and something happens to where I have to. Sometimes I think the pain gets worse." Logan said as he started to get more control of his emotions and wipe away a few tears.

"You'll get used to them, trust me on that." Wolverine told him.

"I guess you'd be that expert on that, huh?" Logan asked him with a slight smirk.

"I might be." Logan said and actually smiled.

"We're here to help you, Logan. This is a safe haven for mutants. You can stop running." Professor Xavier told the young man.

Logan let out a deep breath and retracted his claws back into his hand. He popped his knuckles and stood back up.

"Out of curiosity, you wouldn't happen to have a place where I might be able to vent? Would you?" Logan asked the Professor.

"Oh, I've got just the right place in mind. Besides, it's about time the students got back into shape." Logan said with a smirk.

"Uh-oh." Logan didn't need to be psychic to know that Wolverine had something in mind, it probably wasn't good.

* * *

"Please tell me you don't actually go out in public dressed like this?" Logan asked as he looked at the navy blue uniform he was wearing, with two large circles on the shoulders that an X in the middle of them.

"If you can design something better, give it a shot." Jubilee said as stepped into the hall.

"Or you could just wear yellow spandex." Boom-Boom said to Logan.

Logan just glared at the girl and extended the middle claw on both hands toward him before following Rogue, Scott, and a few others into a large room.

"He can't do that, can he?" Bobby asked Jubilee. Jubilee just shrugged and followed the rest of them.

Logan looked at the large room with his eyes as big as saucers. Logan could swear that the room was as large as a football field. Logan found it very hard to believe that a room like this was built by a school.

"What is this place?" Logan asked as the rest of the students gathered inside.

"_This is the Danger Room. You wanted a way to vent, and you're going to get it. Welcome to morning exercises."_ Wolverine's voice echoed across the room from the control room.

"Wolverine's in the control room? Uh-oh." Boom-Boom said.

"What's so bad about that?" Logan asked.

As soon as Logan spoke, Wolverine's idea of an obstacle course began. A few large spikes came out of the ground in certain areas, along with a few swinging maces, tentacles, and did he see two giant hammers smashing together on the laid out track?

"This is exercise?" Logan asked, his voice going a pitch higher.

"Don't worry, it's easy after ya get used to it." Rogue said as she stepped onto the starting line with the other students.

Logan joined the others at the starting line and stretched his legs. He had a very bad feeling about this. He mainly had a bad feeling about the two large hammers that were pounding together near the part of the track that said Finish Line.

In the control room, Professor Xavier, Wolverine, and Beast were watching the students taken on the obstacles on the track. The rest of the kids who had been there for a while were doing good and using their abilities if needed, while Logan had just barley gotten by the spikes by the skin of his teeth.

"Are you sure it was wise to have your son go through this? He did only arrive just yesterday." Hank asked him.

"The sooner he knows what he's dealing with, the better." Wolverine said as they watched.

Rogue had been through many obstacle courses like this before and was hardly breaking a sweat with this one. She took a moment to check on Logan and saw that he was having a bit of trouble.

"Rogue, vhat's wrong?" Kurt asked her.

"I'm going to help out Logan. Don't worry, I'm right behind ya." Rogue told him.

Logan thought he had cleared all the spikes when one almost hit him in the crotch and caused him to fall over. Expecting to feel the impact of hard ground, Logan was surprised when he felt someone catch him under his arms. Logan regained his balance and looked to see the person who had helped him was Rogue.

"Having fun yet?" she asked him with a bit of sarcasm.

"Oh, loads of fun." Logan answered as both of them continued on the course.

Half of the students had already finished the course with Logan and Rogue bringing up the rear. The trouble started when they got to the moving tentacles. Sixteen tentacles moving at random patters and built in motion sensors were doing their best to knock the duo down. While Rogue was having an almost easy time dodging the flailing limbs of metal, Logan was receiving too many close calls for his own comfort. Logan glanced up to try and see how many more obstacles there were, and saw Rogue dodging and darting from the tentacles. Despite his efforts, Logan couldn't help but notice how nice her butt looked in her spandex costume. Too bad he didn't keep his eyes on the tentacles.

One hit him right in the face, knocking him to the ground as he let out a loud groan of pain as he felt blood flow from his nose.

Rogue turned to see what had happened when one tentacle hit her across her back and another knocked her to the ground. Logan saw her fall, but one tentacle grabbed his arm when he tried to move. He tried to pull his arm free, but the tentacle was holding on to him tight, and its grip was tightening the more Logan moved.

"Hold on, Rogue!" Logan said as he pulled harder.

Two more tentacles shot our and each grabbed one of Logan's legs, and another shot out and grabbed his other free arm.

After regaining her footing, Rogue saw the situation Logan had gotten himself into.

"Logan, don't move! Just,"

Before Rogue could finish, another tentacle knocked her down again and was wrapped around her waist.

"ROGUE!" Logan shouted as he saw her becoming wrapped up by the tentacles as well.

Logan began panting wild like a mad Rhino and started to growl as his temper began to boil. Like a thermometer inside an active volcano, his temper began to rise quickly and boiling over Logan's limits. His fists were balled as he began to pull at the tentacles with all his muscles tensing. He saw Rogue was starting to have a hard time breathing as it looked like the tentacle that had her was beginning to tighten it's hold her. That did it. With a loud yell that sound like a beast in a mad rage, Logan's claws came out from his fists. With all the strength he could muster, he jerked his arms forward and ripped the tentacles that were holding his arms in half; causing the wires to spark. Without the computers and wiring to control them, the tentacles loosened and fell free from Logan's arms. Logan slashed the two tentacles that were holding his legs, then ran and severed the one that was holding Rogue. He retracted the claws and ripped the tentacle off of her.

"You okay?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I'm all right." Rogue groaned as she regained her breath.

"Just follow me." Logan growled as he sat the rest of the course and extended his claws.

Before Rogue could object, she saw Logan take off in a fast sprint and headed toward the three large flying maces. With a loud shout, he sliced the cables that were holding two, and sliced the last one almost in half. Rogue quickly caught up to Logan just when they reached the two large hammers. Instead of staying on the track, Logan ran off of it to part of the machine that was pushing the hammers and shredded it into scrap and causing it to short circuit. As Rogue crossed the finish line, the machine that operated the hammer that Logan slashed exploded. Logan wasn't hurt by the blast, but almost looked like a living reflection of Wolverine when he was angry. Fists balled, claws out, and a look of pure rage with him growling almost every exhale.

"Anything else?" he asked them. The students just shook their head no as they looked with stun eyes at the young mutant. "Good." He growled as he retracted the claws and fell on his back, completely exhausted.

"Wow." Bobby, a.k.a. Iceman, said.

* * *

"It looks he's got my temper." Logan said as he watched the whole exercise.

"You say that like it's a bad thing, Logan." Charles said.

Wolvine just looked at Charles with a raised eyebrow.

"Charles, you've got to be kidding me. What usually happens when I get that mad?" Logan asked him.

"Good point. What about his strength? Usually only I or Colossus are that strong." Hank said.

"We know he has similar abilities to Rogue's. It's possible he has come into contact with other mutants and retained some of their powers. Rogue is almost the same way, but it's possible he hasn't come into contact with that many." Charles said.

"I'll tell you one thing. It looks like introducing him to Rogue was a good idea." Wolverine said as he watched Rogue help Logan to his feet. Wolverine left to go talk to the students while Charles wheeled over to Beast.

"Hank, can you help me on something?" Charles asked him.

"What do you need me to do?" Hank asked him.

"Logan, young Logan, has a photo of his mother. I want you to search any known data bases for her. Her first name is Yuriko." Professor Xavier told him.

"I'll do what I can, Charles. But you do know there aren't any guarantees." Hank told him.

"I know, Hank. I just feel like it's the least I could do for him." The Professor said as he exited the control room.

* * *

Logan was catching his breath while the other students were talking about his sudden actions. Logan was trying his best to ignore them, but it was a little hard to do with so many people talking right next to him.

"Man, what you did was so awesome!"

"Heaven help anyone if they get into a fight with him."

"I wish I had claws."

Rogue saw Logan was becoming more and more upset as he listened to everyone. She knew he was fixing to loose it again and had to get him out of there. But everyone was too close and Rogue couldn't get to him.

"WOULD YOU ALL JUST STOP IT AND SHUT UP! THIS ISN'T COOL! IT ISN'T AWSOME! HAVING THESE FUCKING CLAWS IS ONE OF THE WORST THINGS IN MY LIFE!

"You think I like having these things? You think its fun? Didn't any of you see what happened to me last night? I have nightmares EVERY NIGHT! I keep reliving what those bastards did to me every single night! And it wasn't fun, it was hell! THEY CUT ME OPEN! THEY PUT THIS SHIT IN ME WHEN IT WAS MOLTEN! LIQUID METAL! THAT MEANS SUPER FUCKING HOT!

"And let me tell you another thing. These things are _in_ my arms! There aren't any sheaths they go into, there between damn muscle and bone! It isn't cool at all! I heal fast, so the pain's always fresh! These things rip _**through**_ my arms! They cut muscle and skin! You want to experience this? Then cut your arm open and stick a gallon of lemon juice and salt in the wound!" Logan shouted as he stormed out of the Danger Room and past a very pissed looking Wolverine.

"Rogue, you and Kurt go make sure he doesn't do something stupid." Wolverine told them. After Rogue and Kurt ran past, Wolverine looked at the rest of them.

"Hasn't it ever occurred to you that some mutants haven't been so sheltered? You know all that anti-mutant crap out there? Not to mention some of the people living on the streets are also mutants who don't have anything to turn to? A lot of mutants have to deal with that every single day. They don't have the benefit of some place safe, or people to look out for them, or a place to learn how to control their powers. And a lot of them aren't thrilled about their abilities. And to make sure you understand that, you get to run the course the way I use it." Logan said with a sadistic smirk. All the students just gulped as they saw the very dangerous looking smirk on Wolverine's face.

* * *

Logan was sitting underneath a near by tree and just letting his mind wonder. He had cooled down some time ago and was starting to regret his little outburst earlier. They didn't know what he went through and had to deal with. It wasn't their fault. Sometimes he could be a real jerk. That's when heard some sort of popping sound and smelled something that almost made his nose hairs curl. He looked up to see the young blue mutant on a branch above him.

"Gutten Tag. Wolverine told us to see if you vere all right." He said as Rogue took a seat next to Logan.

"Sorry about the blow up. I've got a short fuse, and it doesn't take a lot to set me off." He told them as the blue mutant bamfed off the limb and bamfed to Logan's other side.

"A lot of them probably had it comin anyway. Ya cooled off yet?" Rogue asked him.

"Yeah, I think so. That's just going to take some getting used to." Logan said.

"You get used to it after a vhile. Just be glad Wolverine decided to go easy on us today." Kurt told him.

"That was going easy?" Logan asked him with raised eyebrows.

"By the way, with the tentacles, all ya had to do was stop movin. I tried to tell ya earlier." Rogue told him.

"Just tell me I won't have to pay to replace that stuff? It's bad enough when I tore apart that bar in Canada." Logan said to himself.

"You tore apart a bar?" Kurt asked him.

"Never mind. So what do they call you?" Logan asked the mutant sitting beside him.

"My name's Kurt Wagner, but they also call me Nightcrawler." He told him.

"Nightcrawler? No offence, but you look more like an elf." Logan told him.

"Wolverine calls me that sometimes." Kurt said with a grin.

"If he starts to bug ya, just slap him upside the head" Rogue told him.

"Hey!" Kurt said.

"Well what are big sisters for?" Rogue asked Kurt.

"Sister? He's your brother? I don't see the family resemblance." Logan joked.

"Legally, I'm his sister." She told him.

"Oh. Can I ask you two a question?" Logan asked.

"Shoot." Rogue responded.

"Do I have to wear these dorky looking things?" Logan asked as he pinched part of the uniform he was wearing.

The two snickered for a little bit before answering.

"You can try and design your own. Ya got anything in mind?" Rogue asked him.

"I might have one or two ideas." He told them.

* * *

Two days later, the students training that morning was taking place outside. It was nice for a change, and the students liked the fact they didn't have to face Wolverine's personal obstacle course in the Danger Room. Most of the students were still sore from the day Logan had his little temper explosion.

"All right, half-pints. This is mainly to test your powers. These are non lethal weapons being fired, so you don't have to worry about loosing a limb. Wait a minute. Where's Rogue and Logan?" Wolverine asked as he noticed the two were missing.

"OVER HERE!" Rogue called out as she stepped out from behind a large tree. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I have something to show ya. Due to his complete hate for the standard uniforms, we thought it was time for something a little different. Thanks to his little imagination, and a some help from maself, I give you the new Logan." Rogue said as Logan stepped out from behind the tree.

He was wearing black from head to toe, with thin lines of yellow making the shapes of angular muscles on the top half of the uniform. A silver colored belt was wrapped around his wait with the familiar circle with the inside X as a buckle. Silver colors decorated the area where his abs were, and on his shoulders.

"Interesting look. You got a name to go along with it?" Wolverine asked him.

"I don't have anything permanent yet, but I have thought of something." Logan said.

"Well, spit it out." Wolverine said.

"How does Panther sound for now?" Logan asked him.

Wolverine seemed to think about it for a little bit. He looked back up and took one more look at Logan's costume.

"It sounds fine." Wolverine said to him.


	4. Finding Something Good

After a while of not being able to log in, I'm finally back. To all my KP readers, I'm working on the next chapters to those stories as we speak. Until now, here's the next chapter in The Sad Man. Enjoy.

* * *

A month and a half later, and things were going well. Logan still kept to himself, but he was learning to do more with the other students. Of course Scott got on his nerves every so often. When Scott wasn't looking he would try and comment on how bossy or controlling he was. He didn't know how, but he was also becoming fast friends with Jean Gray. They had some similar interest in books, and she was helping him find his way around Bayville. Every now and then, he could swear Scott was glaring at him.

And contrary to what Logan had originally thought earlier, Kitty didn't hate him. It did creep her out now and then when he would talk like her during a conversation, but would laugh when she would see the face he would make to get his own mind back in control. The exercises were also becoming easier as he trained and got a better handle on his claws. Logan was getting used to life at the institute and was starting to feel relaxed, but he did his best to ignore that feeling.

Whenever he felt relaxed, shit would always hit the fan one way or another. He wanted to relax, but he was paranoid. That was something he would have to work on. Correction; that was one of the things Rogue was helping him work on was his paranoia. The one thing that hadn't changed tough was the nightmares. Some nights he would just wake up in a cold sweat, and other nights he would wake up screaming. On the screaming nights, Rogue and Wolverine would be there to make sure he didn't injure himself again. Like the nightmares, the wounds varied.

Last week, he woke up screaming and found that he had shredded his bed and had his right claws going clear though his left arm. Wolverine or Rogue would take him down to the kitchen to try and get him to calm down. Wolverine would try and teach him a few breathing exercises that helped Logan deal with nightmares and drift him off into a dreamless sleep. He knew Wolverine was trying to help, but Logan usually found his advice annoying now and then. The one thing they shared was they usually didn't have that much to say unless it was during training.

With Rogue, she would try and talk to him about anything to get his mind off of the nightmares. He enjoyed talking to Rogue. He could relate to her in more ways than one. And it wasn't just with their abilities. He and Rogue had become good friends and found that they shared a few things in common. One thing he found out was Rogue was a fan of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and she got a kick out of the fact that he would like to go to a midnight showing while dressed as one of the characters. Their tastes in music differed, but they had the same tastes in books and a few movies.

* * *

That night, Logan and Rogue were heading back to their rooms after another nightmare. No claws, but it still had Logan screaming. Logan was enjoying their talk about the works of Edgar Allan Poe on their way back, but were trying their best to keep a good distance. Rogue was in an oversize shirt and shorts while Logan was only wearing a pair of pajama bottoms. They weren't wearing gloves, and were trying their best to avoid physical contact. The weird thing was that both found themselves unconsciously drifting closer to each other.

"If I can find that book, ah'll let you borrow it sometime." Rogue told him as they came to her bedroom door.

"That would be great. Before I forget, I'm going to be studying Shakespeare with Beast tomorrow. You want to hang out later?" he asked her.

"Sure. Maybe you can tell me why you like reading that stuff so much." Rogue said with a smirk.

"It's easy once you get past the elaborate words. Good Night." Logan said as he went into his room. "By the way, you might want to take care of a certain Kitty Cat problem." Logan said and pointed to Rogue's door.

When Rogue turned her head, she saw Kitty's face was peeking from it before Kitty gasped and retreated back into the room.

"Remind me to kill her slowly and painfully." Rogue said as she went into her room.

* * *

"So you're going to hang out with Logan again, huh?" Kitty asked with a small smile on her face.

"Yeah. What's wrong with that?" Rogue asked her annoying room mate.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that you've been spending a lot of time with him lately." Kitty said.

"So? He's a nice guy to talk to, and the Professor wanted me to help him." Rogue said.

"Come on, Rogue. You're, like, not spending all that time with him just because the Professor said so." She said.

Right now, Rogue was really wishing her roommate would shut up.

"So I might have become friends with him. So what?" she asked her annoying roommate as she crawled into bed.

"Please tell me you're not this dumb. He digs you, and you, like, dig him. Why don't you just ask him out?" Kitty asked.

"Oh get off it!" Rogue said as she threw a pillow at Kitty's head.

"Think about it, Rogue. It's obvious he likes you. Don't tell me you don't notice when he checks you out." Kitty said.

Rogue had noticed, but she didn't want to admit. The only other person who would look at her like that was Remy, but he just got on her nerves most of the time.

"I know that look. You have noticed, haven't you?" Kitty asked as her grin grew.

"What if I have? It's no big thing. The annoying Swamp Rat does the same thing." Rogue said as she tried to pull her covers over her head.

"But with Remy, there isn't the chance you might be able to touch someone." Kitty said.

"What are you talking about?"

"Think about it. You have the same powers. Don't you think you two might cancel each other out or something?" Kitty asked her.

Rogue had thought about it, a lot. She did like Logan but she was so used to being by herself that she had given up the idea of her ever dating. Then Logan came along and the idea started to come back, but she forced it away. She wasn't going to date someone just because she could touch them. And Logan was starting to give her other reasons to ask him out lately.

"I see where you're going with this Kitty, so just drop it! No one wants ta ask out a freak like me!" Rogue said and used her other pillow to cover her head.

"Maybe he thinks the same thing about himself." Kitty said to her before throwing Rogue's pillow back and going to bed.

What Kitty had just said echoed though her head. When she compared her life to Logan's, Rogue had been sheltered from a lot of stuff. Logan had been on his own since he was thirteen and had no one. He might consider himself a freak, and maybe that's why he hadn't made a move? Could she go out with Logan? Maybe, but what about their abilities? Could it be possible she could touch someone again? To feel the warmth of someone's hand against her own with out having to wear gloves? Rogue grunted loudly. Look what Kitty planted in her head, but the frustrating part was that it had been there before Kitty said anything. Could she and Logan be with each other?

"Please, God. Don't let me get hurt." Rogue said as she started to come to a decision.

* * *

Professor Charles Xavier was working at his desk grading a few papers from the students. Just because he founded the institute didn't mean he always sat behind a desk. He taught a few classes to the students himself to make sure they knew more than just how to fight with their abilities. As he graded a few more papers, he sensed someone coming to his office. He reached out with his mind and sensed who it was. But he could also detect that hey had something on their mind.

"Come in." Charles responded before the person could knock.

The door opened to reveal young Logan, wearing his uniform and looking like he had just been in a fight.

"I take Logan's morning exercises went well." Charles said as he offered a seat to the young man.

"Sort of. I was wondering if you had found out anything about my father yet." Logan asked.

'_I see Logan hasn't said anything to him yet. I should talk to him later on.'_ Charles thought to himself.

"Nothing yet I'm afraid, but we have found several leads. I hope we might having something soon." The Professor told the young man.

"Okay." Logan said as he started to pop his knuckles and bit lower lip.

"Is there something else you wanted?" Charles asked.

"Professor, I don't how to ask this one in the right way. But – um – what would happen if Rogue and I touched? Without our gloves?" he asked him.

"I was wondering about that myself. Sadly, I truly don't know. You and Rogue are the first mutants with your abilities, so I don't have enough information on what would happen. One possibility is that you _might_ cancel each others powers out." Charles told him.

"Let me guess, there's a 'but' in that sentence." Logan said.

"There is a possibility that you or she could strengthen your ability. If that happens, you may never be able to control it." The Professor told him.

"So I'm damned if I do, and damned if I don't." Logan said to himself.

"Logan, what are your feelings toward Rogue?" Charles asked him.

"She can be stubborn a lot of the time, and a pain in the ass. But she's also, I don't know, a good person. We like a lot of the same things, and she's not always depressed or gloomy once we start talking about something. She can be a fun person to be around." Logan said to the older man.

"That still doesn't answer my question." The Professor said as he looked at the young man.

Logan thought about it for a minute or two. He took a deep breath and let out slowly as he looked at the Professor.

"I like her a lot. I want to ask her out, but," Logan said and trailed off.

"You're not sure of her feelings toward you." The Professor said.

"Sort of." Logan groaned.

"I don't have much to offer with dating Logan, but I am familiar with an old expression." Charles said as Logan looked up at him. "If you want to learn to swim, you have to jump in the water." Charles said, causing Logan to grin slightly.

"You do know that's really corny." Logan told him.

"I'm well aware." The Professor said as Logan got up and began to leave.

"Thank's Professor." Logan said before he left.

"You're quite welcome." Charles said as he closed the door with his mind.

* * *

Rogue was walking along the grounds, trying to find Logan. He said he wanted to hang out today, but she was having a hard time finding him. According to Beast, he missed his lesson on Shakespeare. So where was he? As Rogue continued to walk, she was wondering about what Kitty had told her last night. Should she ask him out?

"ROGUE, DOWN!" a voice shouted.

When Rogue looked up, she saw a flying buzz saw heading toward her. She ducked just as she heard a loud clang and heard four thuds hit the ground. When Rogue looked up, she saw the saw had been sliced into four pieces and were sticking up from the ground.

"Are you okay?" Logan asked as he jogged towards her.

As soon as he was close enough, Rogue gave him a strong punch to the shoulder.

"Ya could have warned me about that!" she said to him.

"I thought I did." Logan said as he rubbed his shoulder and let out a small hiss as he retracted his claws.

"Still hurt?" she asked him.

"Not as bad, but I'd rather get a root canal." Logan said as he popped his knuckles.

"Have you been out here the whole time? Beast said you didn't show up for your lesson." Rogue told him.

"I was letting off some steam. The Professor still hasn't found anything on my father yet." Logan said as he turned off the machines before they could fire again.

"Sorry to hear that. So what do you want to do?" she asked him.

"Huh? Oh, right! I forgot. Um, I don't know. What's there to do around here?" he asked her.

"Not much. Scott, Kurt and Logan are watching a stupid football game, and the others went off into town." Rogue told him.

"How about a swim?" he asked her.

* * *

Logan dived head first into the pool as he felt the cold water cool off his over heated body. He came up for air as he felt a cool breeze blow against his skin. One of the things he enjoyed was swimming in a cold pool.

"Come on out Rogue! The water feels great!" he shouted as he swam to one side.

"I'm not coming out like this!" Rogue shouted from the near by changing room.

Rogue hated wearing bathing suits. Like most women her age, she thought her body didn't look good in a bathing suit and didn't want anyone else to see her. Including the man she was attracted to.

"Rogue, we're the only ones out here. Who's going to see?" Logan called out.

"Easy for you to say, you're just wearing shorts." Rogue said to herself.

"Rogue, you're going to look pretty no matter what your wearing." Logan told her.

Rogue let out a deep breath, gathered her courage, and stepped out.

The sight that Logan saw made his jaw fall slack and his eyes widened. Rogue was wearing a simple two piece bathing suit that was a dark purple. It wasn't exotic or anything, but it made her look amazing in Logan's eyes. Her body wasn't too thin but it showed off the muscles she had been strengthening since she came to the institute. Her legs were slim and smooth while her body had the classic sensual hourglass figure.

"Don't tell me ah look that dumb." She said to him.

"I-I-I, um, I mean you look – WOW!" Logan said as he continued to look at her, causing her to raise one eyebrow at his response.

"You think I look good?" she asked him, puzzled by his stare.

"Rogue, you look amazing! I thought only statues looked that good, but wow!" Logan said as he tried to keep his mouth closed.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Rogue said as she dove into the swimming pool, and came back up for air with a small scream.

"The water is freaking freezing!" she shouted.

"I know, but it feels great!" Logan said as he floated on his back.

Before Logan knew what happened, he received a face full of water. He looked up to see Rogue splashing him as fast as she could.

"No fair!" he shouted and started to splash back.

Despite their glum attitudes toward everything most of the time, they were actually having fun with their little battle. Each one was trying to peg the other with a bigger or wider splash of water. They were actually enjoying themselves.

"All right! All right! Truce!" Rogue shouted.

When both stopped, they noticed how close they had gotten to each other. Both of them could feel as if something unseen was pulling them towards each other. They both wanted to be closer, and they didn't want to fight the pull each other was feeling. When they looked down, they saw their hands were almost touching each other. They didn't want to fight it, but they had to. Both pulled their hands away and took a step or two away from each other.

"Being a mutant can really suck sometimes, can't it?" Logan asked as felt part of his heart sink.

"You don't how bad." Rogue said to herself, and they both stood there in silence for a moment.

"I think I'm goin to get a soda. You want something?" she asked as they both made their way to the pool's edge.

"I'm fine right now." Logan said as he climbed out of the pool. Rogue followed soon after and started walking towards the kitchen.

"You sure you don't want anything?" Rogue asked him as she walked backwards.

"I'm fine." Logan said as he looked up to see Rogue slip on part of the wet concrete.

Pure instincts took over as he ran to Rogue and caught her in his arms before her head could hit the concrete patio.

"Rogue, are you okay?" he asked her as Rogue tried to catch her bearings and figure out what had just happened.

"I'm fine. That was close." Rogue said as she noticed something. She felt something warm pressing against her shoulder and another against her lower back. It was warm, soft, but strong at the same time. That's when Rogue realized what it was, and she smiled when she noticed nothing was happening.

"Logan, you're touching me." She said.

Fear was starting to grow in Logan's eyes and he was about to let go when Rogue touched his face.

Logan was going jerk away, but he noticed nothing happened. No draining, no added memories, no added powers. He held Rogue's hand against his face as she regained her footing, and he smiled as he closed his eyes. A feeling he hadn't felt in years, and neither had she. It was actual, physical, human contact. He opened his eyes and saw a smile on Rogue's face as well. They didn't know what to say next to each other. They were just enjoying the fact that, even though it was just with them, they could be in contact with someone without worrying about anyone.

"So what do we do now?" Rogue asked him.

Logan looked through the windows and heard the guys cheering at the football game they were watching, and a small smirk spread across his face.

"I might have an idea." Logan said and raised his eyebrows.

* * *

"Oh no, I'm going to owe you my life savings if this keeps up." Kurt groaned as he watched the game.

Scott had bet Kurt the opposing team would win the game, and Kurt had taken the bet. So far, Scott was right on the money. Wolverine was trying his best not to laugh at the blue elf's reaction as he enjoyed the game. They al heard the door from outside open and close, but didn't bother to look up.

"So how was swimming?" Kurt asked miserably to whoever came in.

"Not too bad. Looks like Rogue twisted her ankle." Logan said.

"Do you need to get her to the infirmary?" Wolverine asked as he chugged down a soda.

"Nah. I'm just going to carry her to her room. Oh, could one of you guys get our clothes later?" Logan asked.

This caused all three to be confused for a second or two. They turned around and what they saw astounded them and caused Wolverine to spit out what little soda was left in his mouth. Standing in the door, and walking slowly to the stairs was a bare chest Logan, without any gloves, holding Rogue who wore nothing but a two piece bikini. Bare skin touching bare skin without any of them falling or getting weak. Both were smiling as they walked out of the room and enjoyed the looks on the three X-Men in the room as they ignored their game.

"D-does this mean their a couple?" Kurt asked.

"I really don't know." Scott said while Wolverine just smiled.

"A chip off the old block." Wolverine said as he finished off his drink.

* * *

"The looks on their faces was priceless. Ah wished ah had a camera." Rogue said as Logan placed her on her bed and began to take a look at her ankle.

"Did I really twist it?" Rogue asked him.

"No. It looks like you pulled a muscle in it is all. A day or two of rest and not using it should make it better." Logan said as he began to rub her ankle a bit.

"Mmm. Where did you learn that?"

"Here and there. It's weird. You learn how to use your hands in certain ways when you can't use them." He told her and continued to massage her foot.

"You enjoying that?" Rogue asked as she noticed how slowly he was massaging her foot.

"Sorry. It's just been a while since I," Logan said as he looked up and looked into her beautiful hazel brown eyes.

"Since I was able to touch someone." He finished as he felt somehow drawn to her again. The same feeling he had felt in the pool.

She could feel the pull to. They had both gotten to know each other since he arrived, and she couldn't help but feel closer to him. He had opened up to her and let her in, and she had done the same with him. She couldn't deny the attraction they both felt for each other. They both hoped it wasn't because they could touch; feel each other with out the barrier of any sort of cloth. She saw the desire in each others eyes as their faces came closer to each other. Their hands met and their fingers slowly intertwined with each other.

Their faces were so close now that they could feel each others breath on their lips. Their eyes met and knew that the feelings they felt. Both closed their eyes as their lips met each other for the first real kiss. The first kiss of both their lives.

"Hey, Rogue. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff we bought in town. And there was- WHOA!" Kitty said as she looked up and saw the two still locked in their embrace.

Rogues eyes opened slowly and bolted open when she saw Kitty standing at the door and broke their kiss. Logan was confused for a second until he turned to see what Rogue was looking at, and instantly turned red when he saw Kitty Pride.

Kitty just looked at them, and then started to grin, which quickly turned into a large smile and a giggling fit. Logan just closed his eyes and groaned as Kitty continued her giggling fit.

"I knew it! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! I knew you two were going to hook up, I knew it!" Kitty said as she continued to giggle like crazy.

"You don't say a word ta no one!" Rogue said in a very low voice.

"And what if I don't?" Kitty said, enjoying the fact she had some good blackmail material on her roommate.

"Or I tell Scott who 'borrowed' his car for an all night date with a certain mutant that causes earthquakes." Logan said, matching Kitty's threat as her eyes bugged out of her head!

"You – wouldn't – DARE!" Kitty said in half shock and half anger.

"Ah got to hear about this." Rogue said with a smile.

"You see, a week before I got here," Logan started.

"You tell, and I go tell everyone you were sucking face!" Kitty threatened.

Logan looked at Rogue with a very wicked grin starting to form on his face.

"Rogue, what do you think?" Logan asked her.

"Get her on the count of three?" she asked him.

"3!" Logan said as both bolted off the bed after her.

They chased her all the way to the bathroom, only for her to close and lock the door behind her and not let her two chasers in.

"That little brat!" Rogue said in frustration.

"Grab my hand." Logan told her.

Rogue could see he was wearing his smirk as he held out his hand. She knew he was planning something sneaky, but couldn't tell what. She took his hand, and Logan took her _through_ the wall of the room right next to the bathroom.

* * *

Kitty was sitting on the edge of the bath tub, laughing up a storm. She couldn't get over how she had spotted those two in the bedroom. She didn't know if Rogue would ever take her advice. She also didn't know she would have taken it like that! At least she thought Rogue took her advice.

"_Who cares? Those two finally hooked up, and I knew it! Maybe I should start a dating service."_ Kitty thought to herself as she started to giggle again, unaware of the two faces in the wall behind her that had been spying on her.

Rogue and Logan pulled back and Rogue was starting to fume a little.

"I bet she thinks she's the one that set us up. How can you still do that?" she asked him.

"Most of the abilities I take disappear after awhile, but I still retain a small amount, but it takes a lot of concentration. Hey, have you ever seen The Fog?" Logan asked her.

"I saw the re-make." She told him.

"Good enough. I'll phase you through the wall, and hide behind the shower curtain. I'm going to teach Kitty a little lesson when threatening a mutant with claws." Logan said.

Kitty was done with her giggle fits and decided to cool off. She turned the faucet on and looked in the mirror. She didn't know she had been laughing so hard that it had caused tears. She let out a small groan as she saw part of her make up had been smeared by the few tears of laughter. She reached her hands under the faucet to splash her face, but jerked them away when she felt steaming hot water burn her hands. She could have sworn she had turned on the cold water. She made her adjustment and lightly splashed her face. She put the plug in the sink to fill it in case she needed to wash any other parts of her make up.

Once the sink was filled she turned off the water and got a rag. As she began washing off her eye make up, she heard the faucet turn on. It was the hot water again. This was starting to creep her out a little. She turned off the faucet, but also saw the water in the sink start going down the drain.

"How did the plug come out?" she asked herself. She reached into the sink to put the plug back in.

That's when a hand came out of the sink, grabbed Kitty by the wrist, and tried to yank it through the sink! Kitty screamed in terror as she tried to jerk away from the hand in the sink! The hand finally let go and disappeared back into the sink as Kitty backed away in fear. She was near the tub when she heard the curtain move. She turned just as the curtain tried to grab her! She backed away screaming again, until she saw Rogue pop her head out from behind the curtain.

"Got ya good, didn't we?" Rogue asked her.

"We?" Kitty asked.

"Yeah, we." Logan said as he phased through the wall and the bathroom sink.

Kitty looked to Rogue, then to Logan, then back to Rogue in total confusion.

"How? It was you? But how can you still? I mean? You – YOU BOTH ARE SO MEAN!" Kitty shouted as she unlocked the bathroom and left the bathroom.

Both Logan laughed as Kitty left. They didn't care what she said, the look on her face was priceless. As they both stopped laughing, Rogue wrapped her arms around the broad shouldered young man that was with her.

"Logan, can I ask you something?" she asked him.

"Sure." He said.

"Do you really want to be with me? And not just because we can touch each other?" she asked him.

Logan placed his arms around her slender waists and leaned his forehead against her as he looked into her beautiful eyes.

"I've wanted to be with you since the first time I saw you. Now what were we doing before the Kitty Cat walked in on us?" Logan asked her.

"I think we were right about here." Rogue said as she pressed her soft lips against his.

"I think I might like having a girlfriend." Logan said as they broke the kiss.

"You better like it, Rough Neck." She said and kissed again.

Outside, Wolverine was grinning like a cat that ate the canary as he looked at the new couple. He came to see what Kitty had been complaining about, and walked in on them. He just started walking down the hall to give them some privacy.

"He's definitely my son." Logan said with a grin.

* * *

In downtown New York City, a man wearing an over sized trench coat had been walking for quite a while. He was tired, hungry, but didn't have time to do anything about it. He had to find an old friend of his for help. The man wasn't that tall, maybe around five feet. He was skinny underneath the coat, his face looked like it hadn't had the grace of a shave in a while, and his short brown hair looked like it hadn't been cleaned for days. He was recently in an accident and had been infected with something. If he had any hope of a cure, it would be with his friend Hank McCoy.

As he walked, he heard the low rumble of thunder quickly approaching, and saw part of the tall buildings become illuminated by a flash of lightning. Before he could find any kind of shelter, rain began to pour down on top of him.

"Why am I not surprised? YOU GOT ANYTHING ELSE, GOD?" the man shouted into the air.

When louder clap of thunder rattled the windows of the city, the man decided it was time to find some shelter. He walked two more blocks, and noticed that an alley had some cover from the falling rain. Without thinking twice, he ran into the alley to keep himself dry, and cursing himself for not getting a pair of shoes as he scrapped his foot against a busted bottle. He sat down and checked his foot. No blood, but it was a clean cut.

"Yo, dude! You got a light?" a voice called from the end of the alley.

The man looked up and saw about three men making their way towards him.

"Sorry, I don't have anything except the shirt on my back." He said, but that was a lie. All he had was the jacket and what was left of his jeans.

"Yeah, right." Another said.

As they got closer, he could see them more clearly. It looked like the clothes they wore were certain colors, certain designs. They might be gang members. The last thing he needed was trouble.

"I'm serious, I don't have anything. I don't even know where I am." He told them.

"You in hell now, boy." Another said.

Bruce could see two were armed with knives while the one in the middle had an aluminum baseball bat.

"Come on guys, I was just looking for a place to wait the rain out." He said as he got to his feet.

"Who said you could stand up?" the punk with the bat asked as he slammed it against the man's knees.

It felt like he might have broken something as he groaned in pain. He didn't have time to recover. One of them kicked him in the gut and he found his left side slamming into cold and wet concrete.

"This is our turf, bitch! You want to walk through here, you pay us first!" one of them said before they planted a boot into the man's gut again.

The man groaned in pain as he gritted his teeth, and popped his neck with a loud crack.

"You're making angry." The man said through the pain.

"Who gives a shit?" the punk asked.

He tried to kick the man again, only for the man to catch his leg before the punk's foot could make contact. The small man started to squeeze, and the punk started to shout in pain as it felt like his leg was breaking in the man's grip!

"You don't want to see me," the man growled. **"when I'm angry!"**

The man looked up at the punks, and all of their blood ran cold as they saw the man's eyes turn into an almost neon green. With a twist of the small man's wrist, he snapped the punk's leg at the knee and threw him against the wall! As the small man stood, the other two conscious punks could hear bones pooping or snapping as the man began to grow more broad shouldered, and taller. The two could also almost swear that he was turning a shade of green as he began to grow in size.

"**Smash."** The man growled.


	5. Hell of a day to be an XMan

_Before many of you ask any questions, I just want to get something straight first. Why do I have romance when the story is called The Sad Man? His relationship with Rogue is a small part in the story. The hard parts that young Logan will have to face are coming up. And why hasn't Wolverine told Logan he's his dad? Give him a break, he's only known how to fight. Would you run up to a kid who been through hell and shout I'm your daddy? In the mean time, enjoy the rest of the chapter and story._

* * *

There Rogue and Logan lay on the bed, her head resting on his chest. They were just napping, nothing kinky or funny, just enjoying the fact that they were close to each other. They were both wearing short sleeve shirts and jeans, not seeing a reason to wear the heavy clothes around each other. They didn't need them when they were together, they could be something close to normal. 

Kitty didn't keep her mouth shut the day before. They both knew she would tell, and the little prank made her determined to let everyone know. Logan kicked himself for that afterward. When he grabbed her, he could have grabbed her bare hand. Or what if she had been wearing a T-shirt? Logan would have to apologize later, but he was enjoying this moment. Here he was with his beautiful girlfriend. A girlfriend, he finally had a girlfriend for the first time in his life! He held on to her tighter and enjoyed the scent of her hair. And he was glad that his girlfriend was Rogue. Goth or not, he was attracted to her personality and not just her looks. Both were enjoying this moment together.

Another thing was gnawing at the back of his mind. Logan would be eighteen in a few weeks, and his girlfriend was only sixteen. Logan didn't want to break any laws, but he didn't want to break u with the woman he was holding. He hadn't felt a connection like he had with her since his friend Remi. They would find a way around it. It was simple as that, or at least he hoped.

"_All X-Men; please report to my office. You to, Logan and Wolverine."_ A voice inside both of their heads said, waking them from their nap.

"Was that what I thought it was?" Logan asked Rogue as they sat up.

"Yeah, something's up." Rogue said as she grabbed a thin jacket and placed it over herself and put on her gloves while Logan put on his worn leather jacket and a brand new pair of gloves.

* * *

Both Rogue and Logan entered the Professor's office and were greeted with the usual suspects. He saw Wolverine, Storm, Kitty, Kurt, McCoy, Scott, Jean, and two new students were all in the same room. One of the new students had massive snow white wings that made him look like a living angel, while the other was a tall broad man by the name of Peter. Logan had seen his ability one day in the Danger Room, and was amazed when he saw the man's skin turn into shimmering metal. 

"I'm glad you're all here. I've heard recent reports of a mutant causing extensive damage in New York City." The Professor told them.

"How extensive?" Wolverine asked.

"He literally tore through several buildings without gaining a scratch, and has caused massive damage to numerous vehicles and other things." The Professor said.

"Could it be Juggernaut again?" Scott asked him.

"That was the first thing I investigated. My brother is still unconscious in his cell. Whoever this mutant is, he might be just as strong. However, Cerebro is unable to find him." Charles told them.

"Why didn't Cerebro detect him?" Hank asked.

"Cerebro?" Logan asked his girlfriend in a whisper.

"I'll tell ya later." She responded.

"I'm not sure. But whatever the reason, we must stop this mutant before anyone gets hurt. And I want weapons to be a last resort. This goes double for both of you two." Charles said as he looked directly at Logan and Wolverine.

Wolverine just scoffed a little while Logan turned a slight shade of red. Everyone knew how Logan would get once he got mad, and some of the equipment from the Danger Room that was being repaired was evidence of it. Rogue noticed the blush and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. Logan returned it with a slight smirk.

"All right, Charles. X-Men, suit up! Angel, you sit this one out." Wolverine said as they all were dismissed and headed to the lower levels.

* * *

It didn't take them long to arrive to New York City. They were able to touch the jet down at a safe place, and began to look for the mutant in question. It didn't take them long to find the path of destruction that had been left behind. As Logan walked with the others, he couldn't help but be amazed at all the destruction he was seeing. Massive holes in the buildings, part of the road was smashed and looked like chunks had been ripped from the ground and flung. Logan could even see a car hanging out of a seventh story window. He didn't even wan to get started on what the cars looked like, if they were cars before they were smashed and twisted. 

"Are you nervous?" Jean asked him.

"Oh, just a little bit." Logan said sarcastically.

"Don't worry, everyone gets nervous on the first time out." Scott said, again taking on the role as leader. He still had that smugness that Logan was finding annoying.

As they moved along the path of damage and seeing all the destruction, both Logan and Wolverine caught a scent of something. Logan had smelled people before, and every person had different scent. This one was unlike anything he had smelled before. It wasn't body odor, but it almost had a chemical scent. The scent reminded Logan of the lab he had been in, the one that tortured him. Could the mutant have come from there as well? Whatever it was, Wolverine could smell it as well. And it was close.

"Everyone spread out into teams of two." Wolverine said to them.

"Do you think he's that far away, Wolverine?" Storm asked him.

"No. He's that close." Logan answered as his claws shot out from his fists.

Wolverine did the same thing as he took another sniff of the air around them. He knew whatever had caused all the destruction was still there. Logan paired up with Rogue as the others went off in separate directions. Little did they know that a pair of neon green eyes had been watching them the entire time, and already had its fists balled tight.

* * *

Storm and Wolverine teamed with each other and set off down a street that looked to have the least amount of destruction. Maybe the creature was settling down and hiding. One thing Wolverine preferred was the element of surprise. Storm kept a watchful eye open but was starting to breathe a little quicker. The buildings down the street were a little too close for her comfort, almost like they were closing in. Wolverine knew Storm had a bad case of claustrophobia and didn't need her to going nuts. 

"So how's Spike doin'?" Wolverine asked, trying to get her to focus on something else.

"Fine. He's doing well. I'm amazed at how mature he's gotten. So Charles told me everything." Storm said.

"About what?" Wolverine asked.

"About you and Logan." Storm said.

Why didn't that surprise him? It seemed that Storm was the Professor's best friend, as well as his second. He told her everything, so this wasn't much of a shock. He just wished that he didn't tell her everything sometimes.

"Have you told him yet?" Storm asked him.

"No, I haven't. He's been looking for me for a while, Storm. I don't want him to be disappointed." He told the white haired woman beside him.

"Disappointed? Logan, he's your son. He deserves to know. Some of the students are already suspecting your connection. How long until he figures it out?" she asked.

"Maybe it's better that way." Wolverine grunted.

"If he does that, he might be angry. Logan, you don't want to risk loosing a son after you just found him." She told him.

"Storm, I,"

Wolverine stopped when he smelled it. The scent was a lot stronger now and was very close. Every muscle in his body tensed and his jaw tightened. Storm got the message and her eyes became snow white as clouds overhead began to form.

"He's close." Wolverine said.

* * *

"Hey, where's the wild man that tried ta protect me?" Rogue asked Logan as they walked and surveyed the damage, looking for the rampaging mutant. 

"Rogue, the biggest fight I've ever been in is bashing a drunk's nose in." he told her as he popped his knuckles.

"Hey, ya got me ta back ya up." She said with a smile.

"Who are you, and where's the depressed Goth I fell for?" he asked with a slight smile.

"Keep that up, and I'll find a way to drain ya." She said with a smirk.

That's when the sound of something collapsing echoed through the city. Rogue and Logan bolted back down the way they had walked, only for Wolverine and a large green mass to fall through one of the buildings and land in front of them. Wolverine rolled and was back on his feet in no time with his claws out.

"YOU TWO BEAT IT!" Wolverine shouted to them.

"What happened?" Logan asked.

"KID, IT'S NOT INTERESTED IN TALKING!" Wolverine shouted as the creature began to stand.

Rogue and Logan gulped as they saw what looked like a giant green man, with a seventy-four inch chest, stand to a towering eight and a half feet tall with muscles that would make Governor Arnold look like a dwarf. It also looked to be very, very angry.

"Isn't he supposed to be jolly and not pissed?" Logan asked. The remark caused the hulking creature to emit a deep throated growl.

"Kid, I think that just pissed him off even more." Wolverine said.

Before either knew what was happening, Logan was shoving Rogue out of the way of the green behemoth as it rammed Wolverine like Mack hitting a squirrel. The two young mutants looked to see the creature shove Wolverine through a wall and into another building.

The others arrived not too long afterward with Jean carrying a very tired Storm.

"What happened ta Storm?" Rogue asked.

"It came out of no where. It knocked me unconscious. Where's Logan?" Storm asked the two young mutants.

The creature fell down backwards and onto the hard concrete as it fell through the wall, with Wolverine on top and his claws buried to the hilt in its shoulders. The creature backhanded Logan with its left arm, sending the mutant flying off of him and into the gathered X-Men. Wolverine stood back up and raised his claws, ready to fight.

"It's adamantium tasting time, boy." Wolverine said with a sneer.

As Wolverine charged, Rogue was removing her glove to get ready to drain him when she noticed that Logan was missing from the assembled X-Men.

"Where's Logan?" she asked.

That's when Jean's eyes began to widen as she looked at the angry creature.

"Oh God, he isn't!" she said as she looked to the fire escape above the green beast.

Before Wolverine could attack, Logan leapt off a fire escape and landed on the hulking creature's shoulders! The creature immediately began to try and reach for Logan to throw him off, but couldn't reach him. Logan extended his claws on his right hand, and sunk them into the creature's shoulder! The creature howled in rage and hate as he slammed its back into one of the buildings, bashing Logan as well. The pain Logan felt was almost unbearable. Using the term of being hit by any kind of big rig would be an understatement. Before Logan could shake it off, the creature slammed him against a wall again, and harder!

Logan was starting get sleepy and knew he couldn't take much more. He had to force his eyes open, and took his left glove of with his teeth and spit it out.

"I'm going to regret this." Logan said as he placed his open hand on the creature's shoulder. Almost instantly, both of their veins began to bulge as energy and memories were transferred into Logan. Logan's jaw tightened and his eyes bulged as if he was being electrocuted. So much anger and rage was flooding his mind that it was almost unbearable! Logan forced himself to break contact and retracted his claws. Logan fell to the ground while the green behemoth fell to its knees. Rogue, Wolverine, and Scott rushed to Logan's side as he propped himself on his hands and knees and tried to sort out everything in his head. He let out a loud yell as his muscles expanded; tearing his costume and his skin took on a small green hue. Rogue and Wolverine dragged him away while the creature was slowly getting back on its feet.

"Jean, please tell me you can stun him." Scott asked his girlfriend.

"Scott, I can't really get into his head. All of it's is nothing but anger. It's almost like he's a living embodiment of rage." Jean said as she tried to access the creature's mind.

"Storm, you got anything up your sleeve?" Wolverine asked her.

"I may have something." Storm said as her eyes turned white and lighting bean to form in the clouds above.

Rogue was trying to get through to Logan as he had his eyes closed tight and was letting out deep growls and yells. Whatever was in this creature's head, Logan was having one hell of a time trying to control it.

"Logan! C'mon sugah, it's Rogue. Damn it, Logan, SNAP OUT OF IT!" Rogue shouted to him and slapped him across the face as hard as she could.

Logan bolted his eyes open and revealed that they had changed to neon green. He darted his eyes back and forth, trying to figure out what was happening. He saw lightening form around Storm and strike to the creature's left and right. After a few seconds, Logan bolted and ran in front of the weather controlling mutant and ran in front of the creature. The creature looked at Logan and began to growl.

"**SMASH. PUNY HUMAN IS ENEMY."** The creature growled at him.

"**No, I misunderstood! We're not enemies, we're friends.**" Logan growled in a deep voice.

The creature looked at Logan in confusion, not understanding what he was saying.

"**YOU TRICK ME! YOU HURT ME!"** the creature growled.

"**No, we're friends! We didn't know who you were. We're friends.**" Logan told him, holding out a gloved hand to the creature.

"**FRIENDS?"** the creature asked, relaxing a little.

"**We're friends.**" He told the creature.

The creature sat down, and started taking deep breaths. Wolverine slowly walked to Logan's side, keeping an eye on what had tried to kill them earlier.

"How did you know that would work?" Wolverine asked him.

"**I've got his memories. There's someone buried in there. I don't know how to explain it, but it's like two different people. This – Hulk – is like a kid.**" Logan told him as the creature began to take deeper breaths as it calmed down.

The creature soon began to slump over as his muscles began to shrink in size. Everyone heard bones popping and snapping, and his shape began to shrink as his skin slowly turned from green to pink. The eight foot hulk was soon replaced by a five foot, skinny young man.

"It's your call, Logan. You're the one with all his marbles." Scott told him, not really knowing what to do.

Logan walked in front of the small man, and kneeled in front of him with his hand on his shoulder.

"Doctor?" Logan asked as his voice began to return to normal, but his muscles and skin remained the same.

The man shakily looked up at the young man and gasped a little when he saw the neon green eyes looking at him.

"W-who are you?" he asked weakly.

"I'm Logan, and these are the X-Men. We're friends of Dr. McCoy." Logan told him as more of the small man's memories were coming in more clearly.

"H-Hank? I-I need to see him, its important." The small man said.

"We'll take you to him Mr.?" Scott asked as he stepped forward.

"Banner. Dr. Bruce Banner." He told the young man as Wolverine and Scott helped him to his feet and began escorting him to the X-Jet.

"Are ya okay?" Rogue asked Logan who was taking a few deep breaths of his own.

"Next time I get an idea like that, do me a favor and knock my ass out." Logan said, wondering when the green skin would go away.

"That was a brave thing ya did." Rogue told him and kissed him on the cheek. Logan began to lightly blush from the reward his girlfriend just gave him. "But I will kick your ass if ya try that again. Come on, hero. Let's go home." Rogue said as they got to their feet and followed the rest of the X-Men.

* * *

"Are you sure, Charles?" Hank asked as they looked at Bruce's test results. 

"I'm as confused as you, Hank. According to the results, Dr. Banner is not a mutant. At least not the kind we know of." Professor Xavier said as they were soon joined by Dr. Banner.

"Bruce, what happened? The last I heard, you were presumed dead after a lab accident." Hank said.

"I don't know the full story, Hank. We were testing some new nano bots, for medical use. So far, they've killed everything they've come in contact with. Well, a student volunteer was fixing something in the gamma chamber when part of the machine shorted. I saw that the Gamma countdown had started, so I yanked him out of there and used myself as a shield. The next thing I know, I'm in a quarantine zone." Bruce told his old friend.

Bruce was more than a little surprised to see his friend looking more like a blue ape when he was brought to the lower levels of the mansion. However, he was relieved when Professor Xavier offered to help him. But the results were already telling Bruce a story he already knew.

"Bruce, that doesn't explain what happened to you. From what you've said, you should be dead." Hank said.

"I-I know. I had to find out why, and it led to my father." Bruce said, causing Hank to slowly remove his glasses.

"I'm afraid to ask." Hank said as he looked at the scans again.

* * *

"Logan? Logan, are ya okay?" Rogue asked her boyfriend as she walked into the large library and saw him sitting in a chair with a notebook and pen in hand. 

His muscles had returned to normal, his skin was a healthy pink, but his eyes still had a neon tint to them. Ever since they changed and got back, he had been in the library. For two days straight he had been reading and writing and Rogue was getting worried.

"Logan, what's wrong?" Rogue asked him as she sat in the chair next to his.

"I've been thinking a lot. B-Banner's memories and all are a lot to handle. He's a good guy." Logan said, but Rogue could sense that was he was distant about something.

"He's seems like a nice guy. Him and Mr. McCoy are gettin along well." Rogue told him.

"Yeah, they're old college friends. H-Hank is a lot – like a father figure." Logan said, trying to hold back tears.

"Logan, what's wrong?" she asked as she held his hand.

"Um, I – I think I know what created that – thing, that – hulk." Logan said.

Rogue kept quiet and held his hand, letting him know she was listening.

"From what I can tell, his dad was a scientist too. He was very brilliant with genetics. In fact, his father's work was his life. Oh Christ, Rogue. His dad saw him and his mother as a pain. A bother to him.

"The one memory of his that sticks out the most is something he tried to do. It was father's day, and he made his dad's favorite breakfast. He was five years old and made the man breakfast. His dad was working on some notes, and he had the food on a cart and rolled it in. He wasn't anywhere near the desk or anything else, but had it a good distance away. He knew to be careful around his father's stuff. Bruce had a big grin on his face and said 'Happy Father's Day, Daddy!' He wasn't expecting anything in return, just wanted to do something nice." Logan said as tears began to run down his cheeks and he closed the notebook he was writing in.

"What did his dad do?" Rogue asked him, but she was afraid of the answer.

"H-he got angry at him. He told him that he had no time for something stupid like Father's Day. Bruce said that he just wanted to make him happy. The bastard knocked the cart away and back handed Bruce across the face. "He grabbed him by the throat, Rogue. That son of a bitch put a choke hold on a kid; on his own son. He told him clearly that if he wanted to make him happy, then he would find a way to kill himself so he could be left alone with his work. And he threw him out of the office. I mean, he _threw _him out! He threw the plate and glass at him and kicked the cart out. He shouted to take that shit away and don't ever bother him again.

"His more recent ones are really freaky. It turns out that when he was growing up, his father had given him some kind of vaccine. It's all so confusing, but Bruce was trying to figure what had happened to him. And he found his father's notes. The vaccine was some sort of a virus that altered his DNA. My God, how can someone experiment on their child? Then some general showed up, someone named Ross. His memories go to him waking up in an alley in some sort of city." Logan said as his breathing became ragged and looked at his girlfriend. "How can you stand it, Rogue? All these memories? All those feelings? You tell yourself that they're not yours, but it still hurts. My God, sometimes I think I'm going to go nuts!" Logan said.

Rogue got out of her seat and held Logan close to her in a tight hug. Rogue knew the confusing hell he was going through, she had been through a worse version of it. She removed both her gloves and held his face in her hands. She leaned her forehead against his and looked into his eyes.

"Suga, I don't even know how. You just learn ta deal with it as ya go along. I have days where I get a total recall on someone else's life, and on other days it's just mah memories. But there's one bonus now." Rogue told him.

"What's that?" he asked her.

Rogue leaned in and kissed him on the lips, and felt him return the kiss. It wasn't passionate, but both were trying to tell the other their feelings through it. How both didn't want to break it.

"Ah got someone who just wants me for me." She told him as she broke the kiss.

"Thank you." Logan whispered and grasped her lips with his briefly before laying his head against her chest. She wrapped her arms around him as she felt him gently hold her waist. She was more than his girlfriend, she was his best friend. She would be both whenever he needed her, and she wasn't going to let that go.

* * *

Morning always seemed to come too soon for Wolverine. It had become habit for Wolverine to get up this early. He would do a few exercises or a few training moves. After he was fully awake, he would go downstairs and read the morning paper while having a cup of black coffee. He wasn't much for talking, and everyone knew that. It was usually the only time he could get some quiet and think. He would read the paper to not just read the news, but in hopes he would find almost anything to jog his lost memory. 

As Wolverine entered the kitchen, he was greeted with the surprise of Logan sitting in the window seal. He was reading _his_ morning paper and drinking from one of _his_ coffee mugs. Logan glanced up and saw the older mutant looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I didn't want to use the one with your name on it. Last thing I need in the morning is a reason for you to kick my ass in the Danger Room." Logan told him.

Wolverine just smirked as he grabbed his usual mug and poured a steaming cup of coffee as he sat at the table that was close to Logan.

"You've got the metro section?" Wolverine asked him.

Logan looked through the paper he had sitting in front of him, and tossed the section to him. Wolverine began reading when he glanced at Logan again. The kid had a few traits that were his own, but the other's reminded Wolverine of himself. The way the kid was sitting and reading, the way he talked, and even the way he sometimes fought. His son; he still had a hard time believing it. How do you tell him? Might as well just try and talk to him.

"So, how's everything with Rogue?" he asked him.

"Going good. She likes to hold hands a lot, and I can see why." Logan said with a small smile.

"How's dealing with?" Wolverine asked as he tapped on his temple.

Logan raised an eyebrow in confusion at the action, and then understood what he was asking.

"I've got more of it under control. It's still a train wreck though. Can I ask you something?" Logan asked him.

"I don't know, can you?" he asked him with a smirk.

"If you were in my place, and you sort of are, would you want to find out who your father was?" Logan asked him.

Wolverine took a sip of his coffee and set it down. Logan had to think how to answer this question.

"Kid, I don't know. I wake up some days wondering if I've got any family left, and other days I'm perfectly happy where I am. But I'd be lying if I didn't." Wolverine said.

"You know, I've been wondering about mine for years. I always wondered if he was an American soldier, or an artist. But ever since I got Dr. Banner's memories, I've been second guessing myself." He said.

"Why?" Wolverine asked.

"I never thought of other possibilities. What if he's like Dr. Banner's dad? Or what if he doesn't want to know I exist? Maybe he's an asshole who doesn't care?" Logan said.

"Kid, don't think that." Wolverine told him.

"Why? I've never known him, and I don't know what he looks like. For all I know, he's dead." Logan said.

Wolverine let out a deep groan when he looked at Logan again. "He ain't dead, kid." He told him.

Logan looked up when Wolverine said that. Questions began forming a mile a minute in his head, but didn't know which to ask first.

"The Professor finally found something about him?" Logan asked him.

"Yeah, kid. He did. It turns out he's also a mutant." Wolverine said.

"That's good; that explains a lot. Does the Professor know who he is?" he asked as excitement began to grow in his face..

"Yeah, he does." Wolverine answered as he looked back at Logan. He could see the anticipation in the Logan's eyes as he waited for Wolverine to answer. "Kid, I don't know how to word this right. But I'll tell you one thing now, I'm proud of the way you helped us with Banner." Wolverine told him.

Logan got confused for a second. They were just talking about who his dad was, and now he said how proud he was? Why would Professor Logan change the subject like that? Wait a minute.

"You're proud of me? Professor Logan, I know I'm a little thick headed. And I might be misunderstanding this, and I hope I'm not. But are you trying to tell me that, you're my dad?" he asked him.

"Yeah kid, I am. The Professor found out not too long ago." Wolverine told him.

Logan just let it sink in for a minute, not moving or saying anything. He just seemed to freeze there. Neither one of them knew what to do right now. Wolverine was starting to get a little concerned as Logan just sat there. Without warning, Logan was out of his chair and had Logan in a tight bear hug. Wolverine just sat there for a second, then wrapped his hands around the young man. Things were going to be different, that was for sure.

"I finally found you." Logan whispered.

"Yeah, you found me." Wolverine said.

* * *

"Man, how long does it take you to take a shower? I think my fur was turning kinky." Kurt said as he and a few of the other X-men were heading to the kitchen. 

"Give it a rest, Kurt. I don't take it up that long." Jean said as Kitty was giggling.

"Yeah, right. And I'll become a priest when I'm older." Kurt said as they arrived in the kitchen and saw Logan and Wolverine sitting at the table talking to each other.

This was a bit of a shock since both of them preferred their solitude a lot and didn't have a lot to talk about. Now here they were talking to each other, and Wolverine was actually smiling?

"Did we interrupt something?" Jean asked them.

"Nope. It's just a nice father-son chat." Logan said.

The trio started to go about their business when Logan's words finally sunk into their brains.

"Did you, like, just say father-son?" Kitty asked them.

"You got a problem with that, half-pint?" Wolverine asked them.

"Nope, not at all." Kitty answered while Kurt and Jean were grinning like a pair of joker's. When all three were out of ear shot, Jean began giggling like crazy.

"I knew it! I knew there had to be a connection between those two!" Jean said as she tried to drink a glass of OJ between fits of giggling.

"Like the claws weren't a big enough clue." Kurt said.

"What are y'all going on about?" Rogue asked as she walked into the room.

"Sis, you might want to make sure you don't break Logan's heart." Kurt told her.

"Why should I be worried about that?" Rogue asked.

"Because Mr. Logan is his dad." Kitty told Rogue.

Rogue raised an eyebrow at Kitty's remark, and gulped a little when she saw her brother and Jean only nod their head. Rogue thought it was a possibility, but wasn't sure. Now that she knew, she was wondering how things were going to be from now on. Rogue made her way into the kitchen in time to hear Wolverine finish talking to Logan.

"Just because I'm your father doesn't mean I'm going to let up in training." Wolverine said as he finished off his third cup of coffee.

"I figured you wouldn't." Logan said.

"Oh yeah? How did you figure that?" Wolverine asked.

"Because I wouldn't." he said as he put the mug in the sink.

"Ah don't mean to interrupt, but did I hear right?" Rogue asked the two.

"Yeah, kid. I'm his old man." Wolverine said to her.

Rogue didn't know whether to laugh or gulp. She was put at ease when Logan held her by her waist and kissed her on her forehead. She didn't know why, but she always seemed to relax when he did that.

"You're dating me. Not him, okay?" Logan asked her.

"Speaking of which, when are ya goin to take me on a date?" she asked him.

"Um – well." Logan said, trying to think of a place that they could go.

"Don't worry squirt. I'm not training anybody tonight, so you two are free to go out. Just don't get into any trouble." Wolverine said as he walked toward the door.

"What makes you think I'd get into trouble?" he asked him.

"You're my son, aren't ya?" Wolverine asked with a half grin and walked out.

* * *

It was already sunset as the figure walked to the Iron Gate. He made a deep sigh as he looked at the large circle X that was in the middle of it and shook his head. 

"I hope I'm doin' tha right thing and not loosin my mind." The figure said in a think Louisiana accent as he pulled out a playing card with the Ace of Spades on it.

The card began to glow with a golden yellow energy as the man flung it at the gate, and watched the card explode against the gate and force it open. The figure smiled as the alarms went off and walked up the path to the lavish mansion.

"I guess this be their way of rollin out the red carpet." He said.


	6. Furious

Sorry I've been gone for awhile. I've had numerous technical difficulties with my computer, but I've finally got the next chapter written. Sorry if it's too short.

Even if you're in love and found someone that can hold your hand without any serious repercussions, it's still hard to go somewhere on a date when you're a mutant. People knew that the Xavier Institute was a school for mutants, and a few of Rogue's classmates from school recognized Rogue. Who knew so many teenagers were working at restaurants that were considered date worthy? After being told to leave from about five restaurants, Logan and Rogue had settled on a nice little mom & pop diner that served some of the best cheeseburgers Logan had ever eaten.

"I'm sorry this isn't some fancy place." Logan said as he washed down part of his burger with a chocolate malt.

"Hey, it's no big deal. Besides, you're talking to a southern girl. Ah grew up on burgers and fried food." She said as she swallowed a gulp of her malt, and let out a loud belch. Rogue began to blush a deep red as Logan started to snicker. "Pardon me." Rogue mumbled.

"I think you can put me to shame with that one." Logan said as he laughed.

"Oh, bite me!" Rogue replied.

"Please don't tempt me." Logan said, and bolted his eyes wide as he realized what he said. He slowly looked up at Rogue who had a smirk and one questioning eye brow raised.

"Don't tempt you, huh? And what's that supposed ta mean?" she asked him.

Logan started to stutter and reach for his malt when he saw it disappear in a blur.

"What the hell?" Logan asked and heard a slurping noise behind him.

The two young mutants saw a young man with snow white hair in a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt as he drank the rest of Logan's malt with a smug look.

"Well look at what we've got here. Looks like one of the X-Freaks finally found someone desperate." He said.

"Who's this asshole?" Logan asked his girlfriend.

"That's Pedro. He's one of tha loser's that live in that boarding house I showed ya." Rogue told her as she scowled at the white haired young man.

"Loser? I'm not the one that hangs out with dorks all day." Pedro said.

"Since I'm guessing that you would be the biggest one of all?" Logan asked with a smirk.

"Who do you think you're talking to? I'm the fastest guy alive!" Pedro said as it was obvious Logan's remark had started to tick him off.

"Does that include the bedroom?" Logan asked him.

Pedro hurled the half full plastic cup at Logan, only for it to be impaled on one of Logan's claws.

"I'd watch it, bub. This Tiger's got claws." Logan said as he yanked the cup off.

"Like I'm supposed to be scared of you and that slut?" Pedro asked.

Pedro began regretting the remark as he saw the Logan's face contort into an angry frown and the veins started to bulge in his neck.

"You and me, outside, NOW!" Logan growled as he exited the restaurant. Logan was pretty pissed, but he didn't want to hurt anyone or break anything besides the kid's face.

"Logan, it's not worth it." Rogue said as she followed him outside.

"No, you are worth it Rogue. And right now, this little twerp needs a lesson in manners." Logan said as Pedro soon joined them outside.

"Let's see what you got freak show." Pedro said as he ran faster than they could see, and decked Logan in the nose.

"Come on; give me your best shot." Pedro said as he ran past them again, and hit Logan in the lip.

"What's wrong, too slow?" Pedro asked as he started to run again.

Logan was ready, and stuck his foot out in front of himself. Pedro was going too fast to see what Logan had done, and hit the pavement face first before he even knew what had happened. He clutched his face in pain as he felt blood flow through his fingers.

"Looks like Pretty Boy ain't pretty anymore." Logan said.

"You dirty son of a," Pedro said as he got to his feet and threw a punch, only for his fist to impact Logan's balled fist with a sickening crunch as flesh and bone met flesh and adamantium alloy. Pedro clutched his injured fist as he let out a growl of swears and moans.

"Looks like were even. Give up now and I won't try to castrate you." Logan said as he let the claws on his right hand come out.

Pedro took one look at the claws on Logan's hand, and the smile on Logan's face. The teen of speed thought for a second before bolting off back to the boarding house. Logan let out an exasperated breath as Rogue came to his side.

"Are ya okay?" she asked him.

"This is really going to hurt." He said and looked at his claws.

Logan took in a quick deep breath as he retracted the claws. He let out a low growl as he felt pain shoot through his arms as he hid the weapons back in his arms. When Logan looked at Rogue, he gave her a soft hug to let her know he was all right.

"Remind me to break mah foot off in your ass." She told him.

"What are you – Oh! Forgot about that." Logan said as he broke the hug and noticed that they had an audience. Logan went back in and walked to the cashier as he pulled out his wallet. "How much for the food?" he asked.

"No charge. I'm glad someone finally tried to teach that little jerk a lesson or two. You don't know how many times that brat's been coming in here and bothering costumers." The old man said.

"Are you sure?" Logan asked.

"Come on, Logan. It's free food." Rogue said and gave him a light slug in the arm.

"Thanks." Logan said as he and Rogue walked outside and made their way back to the car.

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"I wonder how much trouble I'm going to be in." Logan said as he and Rogue walked back into the mansion from their date.

"Maybe ya won't be in trouble." Rogue told him.

"Well, if it ain't the lovely southern bell that stole my heart." An all too familiar voice said.

Rogue turned to see none other than Remy LeBou sitting on the steps as he looked at Rogue with a smile.

"Swamp Rat? What are _you_ doin _here_?" Rogue asked as she looked at the Louisiana mutant.

"Didn't your Professor tell you? I'm one of da X-Men now." He told her as he got up and started to walk towards Rogue. "I guess dat mean's we can get ta know one another more, Cherie." Remy said as he kissed Rogue's gloved hand.

"Why don't you back off, Gator breath." Rogue said as she pulled her hand away.

"You weren't actin like dat last time ol' Remy saw you." He said.

"HEY!" Logan said loudly, causing the Cajun to look up. "Would you mind telling me who you are?" Logan asked the guy, trying his best to control his temper.

"Da name's Remy LeBou, but ya'll can just call me Gambit." He said with smug arrogance and pride.

"Then would you mind keeping your paws off my girlfriend?" he asked.

"Girlfriend? You mean you stole da hand of this bell away from ol' Remy?" he asked Logan.

"That's what I jut said, or are you deaf?" Logan asked.

"Don't go insulting ol' Gambit, you won't like what happens." Gambit said.

"Listen bub, I've already been in one fight tonight and I don't want another. So unless you want that rug on your head to be my new hand towel, BACK OFF." Logan growled.

Rogue knew she should stop this before it got out of hand. But for some reason, even though this was pure testosterone, she liked the idea of two guys fighting over her. She was a girl after all.

"_LOGAN! GAMBIT! That's enough!" _the voice of the professor echoed through their minds.

"Gambit, please go to your room. I would like to talk to you about some of the rules after I'm done with young Logan." The Professor said as he wheeled into the room.

"Yes sir, Mon Capitan." Gambit said and walked to the Professor's office.

"Logan, what's this about a fight you were in earlier?" Charles asked the young man.

"Some guy named Pedro. He started harassing us while Rogue and I were on our date, and insulted her. So I kind of challenged him to a fight." Logan told him.

"Pedro started all of it! You know how what punk he is." Rogue said, standing up for her boyfriend.

"I know of that Rogue, and Lance has also informed me. Apparently, his loyalty to Kitty is stronger than his loyalty to the Brotherhood. The point is that you aren't supposed to use your powers unless they are needed. You could have injured someone tonight, Logan. Your father and I will decide on your punishment in the morning." Charles told them, and allowing them to leave.

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Charles kept an eye on Logan as they walked up the stairs, and returned to the elevator that led to the lower levels. If nothing else, he would talk to Gambit tomorrow. At the moment, he had another problem to attend to. As he reached Beast's laboratory, he started to wonder if Wolverine should be down here with him. As he entered the lab, he was greeted by both Hank and Dr. Banner. Charles had agreed to let Dr. Banner stay so he and Hank could find a way to control Bruce's change, or a way to cure it. But at the moment, their recent discovery was mainly about young Logan.

"Have you preformed any more searches Hank?" Charles asked.

"Almost twenty times, Charles, but it's the same thing. Right now, I'm more worried on how both Wolverine and Logan will take it." Beast said.

"I know. Wolverine has no memory of her, while Logan's memories are of a person of unconditional love." Charles said as he looked at the picture on the large monitor.

"How are we going to tell them?" Bruce asked both men.

"I don't know." Charles answered at he looked at the number seven most wanted person in the world. Yuriko Oyama. A.K.A. Lady Deathstrike. One of the world's most deadly assassin's.

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Logan was sprawled on his bed and kept looking at the ceiling. What a wonderful first date. NOT! He let his temper get the best of him again. First the fight with the little bastard, which Logan enjoyed beating up, and almost another one with the swamp – whatever the hell he was. Maybe an inbreed hick or something. Why did he do this? For her; for Rogue. He liked her a lot. He couldn't stop thinking about her, and missed every second he wasn't looking at her eyes, or inhaling her scent. She smelled like wild orchids in bloom. To him, that had to be the most wonderful scent that a person could have.

Logan kept seeing her face in his mind as he was slowly reaching sleep. His eyes closed and Rogue's face was fresh in his mind when he heard something. He was halfway into sleep and thought it was a dream. He was corrected when he felt pressure on his waist, and opened his eyes to see Rogue sitting on top of him. She was wearing a large over sized T-shirt that seemed to float against her body.

"Rogue? What?" Logan asked her before she placed a finger against his lips.

"Ah can't take any more of Kitty's snoring. Can I sleep in here tonight?" Rogue asked him.

"Sure, I guess." Logan said as he and Rogue pulled back the covers and snuggled close to each other.

Logan wrapped his arms around her and drifted off to sleep as he listened to her heartbeat and breathed the scent of wild orchids. What a beautiful smell.

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"Getting tired yet, kid?" Logan asked as he watched the students do laps, with his son in the lead.

"No sir! I feel like I can do this for another hour!" Logan said.

"Man, don't encourage him!" Bobby moaned as they tried to keep up.

"Keep it up, half pints. Just another twenty minutes left." Logan said with a wide grin.

In the control room, Hank was busy making sure the brand new program he installed was functioning. He had to beef up the safety protocols to the entire mansion since Bruce had arrived. You never knew when he would loose his temper and turn into whatever he was. They almost had an incident the other night when he suffered a horrible nightmare. Hank was lucky that he injected him with a sedative before he could fully transform. It was bad enough when Mystique blew up the mansion, but having a green behemoth of a man tear it down? How do you explain that on an insurance form? Hank was finished with the program when he received a communication on a private channel. Who could hack into their system?

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"If I didn't know any better, I'd swear you kids were getting tired." Wolverine said as he saw the kids panting for breath.

"Wolverine, there's someone who needs to talk to you and Logan." Hank said over the intercom, which causing Logan to stop and look up in confusion.

"Take a message. I'm in the middle of something." Wolverine said.

"Logan, he's outside the gate with a small fleet of Comanche helicopters." Hank said.

"Don't tell me." Wolverine grumbled as he exited the Danger Room with his son close behind him.

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Outside the mansion, a squad of sleek choppers hovered in stealth mode as they waited. As soon as both Logan's stepped into their range of sight, a man with grey hair started to walk toward them. His face almost seemed like it was carved from stone as no sign of emotion was shown in it, and one black eye patch covered his right eye.

"Good to see you, Logan." The man said.

"Can the chit chat. What do you want, Fury?" Wolverine asked him.

"I'm here because of two things. One, we're here for Doctor Banner." He said.

"Never heard of him." Wolverine said.

"Don't give me that. We know he's here, and we need him." Fury said.

"Give me one reason why I should hand him over to S.H.E.I.L.D.?" Wolverine asked as he extended his claws.

"Project Avenger. We've been ordered to start it, and the government wants Banner to head the research on resurrecting Project Rebirth." Fury said.

"Project Rebirth? That thing killed Capt. America and now you want to bring it back?" Wolverine demanded.

"Dead? Who said he was dead, Logan?" another voice said behind Fury.

Wolverine almost turned pale as he saw a broad man in n old 1940 style army uniform walk from behind Col. Fury and give Logan a salute. HE was a little taller than Logan, and was probably two sizes broader than him as well. He had blond hair that was cut into a uniform crew cut and sparkling blue eyes.

"R-Rogers?" Wolverine asked him.

"Long time no see, Logan." He said.

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"Let me get this straight, Col. Fury. The government, after hunting me down and trying to kill me on sight, is now begging me to come and help them try and create another Captain America?" Dr. Banner asked.

"Not in so many words. In return, we'll give you unrestricted lab access, a science team of your own choosing, and funding to help you find a cure." Col. Fury told him.

"And I'm supposed to believe that?" Banner asked him.

"S.H.E.I.L.D. is its own military. We work with the other branches, not for them. I assure you, Thunderbolt Ross will have nothing to do with this project." Fury told him.

"How are we supposed to believe you? From what Bruce has told me, SHEILD helped the army go after Bruce." Hank said as he sipped on his steaming cup of coffee.

"That's why I wanted to talk to Logan and his son. I have information they might want." Fury said.

"What kind of information would we want?" Logan asked his former commander.

"Your friends have been accessing Interpol's database for its most wanted criminals. They have been reading the profile of one assassin in particular. We have her location. You give us Banner, and we give you the information. It's a fair trade." Fury said.

"Dr. McCoy, what's he talking about?" Logan asked.

"He hasn't told you? Bad manners, Doctors. The assassin they have been looking for is one Yuriko Oyama." Fury said.

Logan dropped the cup of tea he had been drinking as soon as he heard the name and looked like a deer caught in a pair of headlights. He tried to speak, but his voice wasn't working.

"Who's Yuriko?" Wolverine asked.

"My mother." Logan said. "Sh-she's an assassin? That can't be. Maybe you have the wrong,"

"Trust me kid. There's only one Yuriko we've found in this world, and she's a deadly bitch known as Lady Deathstrike. If she's your mother kid, then she has a lot of explaining to do. So what's it going to be?" Fury asked them.

Sorry for the way I have section seperated. My web browser is acting up again.


	7. Another Day, Another Fight

Cloudy, gray, and raining. The weather matched Logan's mood as he watched the rain fall against the window pane. He sat in the living room, and had just been watching the weather as it went from good to bad. Bruce had decided to go with Fury, and Logan was able to look at the information. It was true, his mother was an assassin. She was killing people for a living. Why though? Why would she do that? Logan crawled out the chair he was in and sprawled out on the floor to think.

His mother was always so caring for him, so loving. Why would she become something so heartless and cruel? Did she think he was dead? Was that why she was like that? Or had she always been an assassin and just hid it from him? Was the attack on their home even real? Everything was so confusing. It felt like a ton of steel had fallen on his chest as he tried not to let the tears in his eyes fall. He closed his eyes and took in a steady breath and slowly let it out to try and calm himself. That's when he felt the warm touch of a pair of hands on his chest and the strand of hair brushing against his face.

He looked up into the face of Rogue as she leaned in and brushed her lips against his. The one person who could make him smile.

"How ya feelin' suga?" she asked him.

"Like a huge secret has been kept from me." He told the Southern girl.

"Join the club." She said as she curled beside him on the floor, and he wrapped his arms around her. "Why are ya on the floor, anyway?" she asked him.

"If I could, I'd sleep on the ground and look at the stars. Years of not always having a bed got me used to laying on the ground. Sometimes it helps me think." He told her.

"Are you okay, though? Ya looked pretty bad when you read that disk." Rogue asked him.

"No, I'm not okay. It's hard to deal with." He told her.

"At least your mama wasn't a blue skinned, back stabbin' bitch." Rogue told him.

Logan held her tighter to try and comfort her. The sound of the rain seemed almost comforting as the two love birds laid there on the ground. Rogue snuggled into the crook of his neck and gently kissed where his shoulder and neck met, and caused him to let out a slight moan.

"I take it that felt good." Rogue said with a smirk.

Logan turned on his side to look at his girlfriend, and brushed some of her snow white hair out of her eyes.

"Rogue, if you tied me up and bit me, I would enjoy it because it was you doing it." He told her.

"Either you really like me, or you got a kinky side I don't want ta know about.

Both just laughed a little at her remark and Logan held her close. He kissed the top of her head as he held her close.

"Rogue?" he asked her.

"Yeah?" she asked him.

"I understand if you don't feel the same way. But," he said.

"What is it?" she asked him.

"Rogue, I love you." He told her.

A small tear formed in Rogue's eye and made its way down her face. Logan was scared he had said something wrong to her. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her. Before he could say anything, Rogue kissed him passionately with so much force that he found himself on his back with her sitting on top of him.

"I love you, too." She whispered to him as they broke the kiss.

They both smiled as they kissed each other again, not caring who was looking at that moment.

In the shadows near the door that connected the living room to the hall, a tall man snuck out the way he came while he played with a playing card in one hand.

"Just to let you know, Ol' Remy don't give up so easily. If it's a fight you want boy, it's a fight you gonna get." The Cajun man said as he threw the card into a potted fern. Two second after he walked away, the pot exploded, covering parts of the walls and floor in dirt and smoking pottery shards.

* * *

"All right kids, listen up! We've been training your reflexes and combat skills for the past few weeks. Now I think it's time for a bit of sparing practice. If I don't get any volunteers, I start picking out opponents. Piss me off, and you go against get me." Wolverine said as he addressed the students in a wooded area on the grounds. 

There were a few groans while a few more of the students were eager to fight. When no one volunteered immediately, Wolverine started picking like he had said. Pyro against Iceman, Scott against Arch Angel, Rogue against Shadow Cat. Logan watched as some tried to act out movies while a few others actually fought to a stalemate. Finally, it was down to the last few.

"All right. Since I don't see any other takers, looks like I,"

"How 'bout me and the pup with claws give it a go?" Gambit spoke up from the crowd while shooting a thumb at Logan.

"What do you say, kid?" Logan asked him.

"Sure, why not?" Logan said.

"Be careful. He knows more about fighting than he's lettin on." Rogue told him.

"Anything else?" Logan asked.

"Yeah. Cards aren't the only thing he cheats at." Rogue told him as he walked to where Remy was standing.

"Okay. I want this to be a clean fight. You use every fighting style and move you've been taught. You keep fighting until you're tired, or one of you gives. You start when you're ready." Wolverine said.

"Ready to go down, Swamp breath?" Logan asked.

"Losin ain't my style." Gambit said as they took their stance.

Gambit made the first attack with a few punches that Logan easily ducked. For a while, that was how the fight played out. Each threw a punch or launched a kick, but the other would block or dodge. Gambit was getting frustrated at not being able to land an attack yet. Both learned to fight on the streets and in their travels and each were resisting the urge to use certain moves they knew.

"Looks like you've lost your edge Swamp Thing. You probably couldn't even win against a toothless, three legged gator." Logan said to him.

"Ta hell with this." Gambit said and threw a punch at Logan.

Logan blocked, but gambit quickly withdrew the punch before it could make contact and sent a swift kick to in between Logan's legs! Logan let a growl of pure pain as he knees began too buckle.

"HEY! NONE OF THAT SHIT!" Wolverine shouted.

"Now you made it personal, Gator Boy. I'm gonna bleed ya!" Logan growled.

Logan balled his fist and landed a massive right uppercut into Gambit's stomach and knocking the breath from his lungs. He then grabbed him by both sides of his head and firmly slammed it against his knee, causing Gambit's nose to break.

The Cajun fell over as he spit the blood from his nose out of his mouth. He could feel it run down his face and down the back of his throat. Gambit reached into his coat and grasped what he needed. Logan took a few steps toward him, and found two playing cards land on his chest and explode! Logan crouched over in pain as he let out a primal growl. Logan rushed to his feet, only for him to be hit in the face by a metal bo staff. Gambit raised the staff for another blow, but saw the staff separate into four pieces as Logan swiped a fist past it. Logan stood and stomped on Gambit's crotch as hard a he could, causing the Cajun to fall backwards against a large oak tree. When Gambit looked up, Logan's fist was barreling towards him. Gambit's eyes widened when he saw two of Logan's claws jut out from his fist.

Gambit's closed his eyes and heard something hit the tree. He looked up and saw Logan's claws on either side of his head. When he looked forward, he saw the middle claw slowly extend and the point stop right at his adam's apple.

"Ain't laughing now, are ya Cajun?" Logan asked as he glared at Gambit.

That's when Logan saw something in Gambit's eyes. Logan had seen it before, but shifted his gaze when he noticed the first signs of it. But now, he saw it in full force. Fear. He saw the fear in Gambit's eyes. He glanced down and saw the small drop of crimson slowly emerging where his claw made contact, and travel down his throat.

"What am I doing?" he asked himself.

That's when he also noticed Rogue's hand had been on his shoulder while she tried to talk to him. Logan looked back up and withdrew his claws, wincing as they sunk back into his forearm.

"D-dad? C-can I please be excused?" Logan asked Wolverine.

"Sure, kid. I'll talk to you about this later, though." Wolverine said while nodding to Rogue.

"Look's like the Panther's got his claws clipped." Gambit said.

Before the Cajun could do anything, he felt Rogue's heel clip his chin and knock him to the ground in shock.

"What an asshole." Rogue said to herself.

* * *

"Ah knew it. That suit wasn't as padded as I thought." Rogue said as she made sure his wounds were healing. 

The playing cards had burned enough skin away that he had been bleeding a over his uniform, but his adrenaline rush hadn't made him aware. She wiped way the blood that had now turned brown as Logan sat there in a daze. He had been like that since she sat him down, and Rogue was becoming worried.

"Logan? Suga, you're scarin' me." She told him.

Logan glanced at her when she said that, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Rogue, is my dad ever like that?" Logan asked her.

"Like what? You mean goin inta Berserker Mode?" Rogue asked him.

"I guess you can call it that." Logan said.

"Almost every time we fight somethin. I don't know what gets inta him, he just start's fighting with everything he's got. Especially when we're up against Sabertooth." She said.

"Who?" Logan asked her.

"Some enemy of his. He's got some of the same abilities as your dad, but he's got claws comin out of his fingers." Rogue said as she re-soaked the washcloth.

"Out of his fingers? Dirty and smelly, long hair, long shredded jacket?" Logan asked her.

"Yeah." Rogue said slowly.

"Sounds like his throat's full of gravel?" Logan asked as he started to think again.

"You've met him before?" Rogue asked.

"I nearly tore his throat out." Logan told her.

"Say what?" Rogue asked him.

"It's true. While I was sleeping in a National Park, he jumped out of nowhere. I guess he thought I was dad. I don't really remember much." He told her.

"Then how do ya know if ya ripped his throat out?" Rogue asked him.

"Almost did. The one part I remember was taking a swipe at his face, and the next thing I knew was he was holding his neck and running off." Logan told her.

"Crap just seems to find you, doesn't it?" Rogue asked him as she sat on his lap, leaned over, and lightly kissed him on the lips.

"Well, not all the time." Logan said as he held her close to him. "Can I tell you something?" he asked her.

"What?" she asked.

"You bring out the beast in me." He told her as he kissed her lips again.

"Is that a claw in your pocket, or are ya just glad ta see me?" she asked him as she moved her hips.

"Wow! Um, maybe we shouldn't go that far yet." Logan said as he began breathing heavily.

"I know. But you didn't say I couldn't tease ya." Rogue said and moved her hips against him again, causing him to take in a quick breath.

"R-Rogue? Um, if you keep that up, I'm gonna – how do I say it?" he asked her.

"Pop like a cork on a bottle of champagne?" she asked him with a wicked grin.

"M-maybe." Logan stuttered.

"Good." Rogue said and leaned forward until her lips were right next to his ear. "I like champagne." She whispered as she flexed her hips again, and enjoyed feeling of her boyfriend tense every muscle as he took a ragged and deep breath.

* * *

"This really scared me Charles. The only one I've ever seen like that is me in a fight." Older Logan said as he looked out the large windows. 

"He is your son, Logan. And like you, he has had to face many obstacles alone. He already knows how to fight, maybe you should teach him how to control his temper." Charles told him.

Logan just gave the Professor a look that asked him if he was joking.

"Charles, this is me were talking about." Logan said.

"I know. Through Rogue, he's learned to be open with others. With you, he's found family and how to control his abilities. But being a father never ends, Logan. He needs his father for guidance." Charles told him.

Logan looked out the window again in deep thought. Charles was long winded but he did make a point. This wasn't going to be easy.

"What do we do about Gambit?" Logan asked him.

"I'll handle Gambit, you handle your son." Charles said.

* * *

Hank was sipping on a warm coffee as he surfed the net. He was trying to see if he could find out anything else about Logan's mother, hoping that he would find something. He saw that the young man hadn't taken the news about her apparent fate well. He didn't plan on them reuniting, but maybe he could find out why she had become this persona. Growing board with his search, Hank decided something new. With a few key stokes, and one hell of a program to cover his tracks, he hacked into the CIA mainframe and Interpol's. What he found made his jaw drop. How they were able to find out this information, he didn't want to know. He just knew that he had to get to the Professor's office and fast.

* * *

"How you doing half-pint?" Wolverine asked his son, sitting next to him under the large oak tree. 

"Trying to figure out why I loose my temper at the drop of a hat." Logan said.

"Don't kick yourself too much, kid." Wolverine said.

"Dad, I almost pierced that guy's throat. There's no excuse for that." Logan said.

"The guy probably deserved it. You are right, there's no excuse. You need to learn how to control it more. But you've already got two better advantages than I had." Wolverine said.

"What's that?"

"You stopped yourself. I probably would have ran him through." Wolverine said as he took a cigar out from his pocket and lit it.

"What if I can't stop myself?" Logan asked his father.

Wolverine took the cigar out of his mouth and blew a long cloud of smoke. This was something he was having trouble with as well. There were a few things he had been known for when he worked with SHEILD, and his temper was one of them.

"Kid, I'm not gonna lie and say it's easy. It's been hard for me, including when I got the claws. One thing that has helped is meditation." Logan told him.

"Meditating?"

"Yeah. I picked it up in Japan. It doesn't always work, but that's me." Wolverine said.

"Think you can show me?" Logan asked him.

"Sure." Wolverine said.

"What's the second thing? You said I had two advantages over you." Logan asked.

"I thought that would be obvious. She has red hair with one white streak in it." Logan said.

"Oh. Yeah, she is great." Logan said to himself.

"I'll teach you how to meditate tomorrow; as long as you and Rogue cool it a little." Wolverine said.

"What do you mean?" Logan asked, trying to act ignorant.

"Don't even try it, kid. I can smell her all over ya. And that's not the only I smell." His dad said with a grin as he got up and puffed on his cigar, leaving a very embarrassed teenage son sitting with his thoughts. "That's my boy." Wolverine said with a grin as he took another big puff.

* * *

"Hank, how were you able to acquire this information?" Charles asked as he read over the information in front of him. 

"I'd rather not talk about it, Charles. The main point is, that he's in danger." Hank said.

"Who's in danger?" Storm asked as she walked into the office.

"Hank has brought some rather disturbing information to me." Charles said and handed the papers to the young black woman.

She read the information in front of her, her face frowning at what she was reading. She looked up at Beast and then to the Professor, asking if it was true without saying anything.

"The information came from our own government. It appears the CIA has hired Lady Death Strike for her services." Charles said.

"But against him? Why?" Storm asked them.

"Who knows why. The point is, we have to do something. Assemble the X-Men, with both Logan's." Charles said.

"Are you sure, Charles?" Beast asked him.

"I'm sure, Hank. They might be the only ones to stop her." Charles said as they left, leaving the papers on Charles desk.

On the papers, it had the listed target for Lady Death Strike to kill. It was the name of one of the most powerful people in the known world. The President.

* * *

NOTE: Sorry for the delay. I've been wracking my brain on one story with little time for my others. Hope you enjoy. 


	8. Fighting the Ex

Author's Note(s): I apologize for the wait on this one, but insperation only works every so often. That, and life kind of throws things at you at the last minute. I hope you enjoy the latest chapter of my story.

* * *

"Are they sure about this?" Logan asked as he slipped into his spare costume.

"They wouldn't be sending us out if they weren't, kid." Wolverine said as he slipped on his gloves, and pierced the tops of them with his claws.

"What about you, suga? How are you doing?" Rogue asked her boyfriend.

"I'm as nervous as hell. I just found out not too long ago my mother's an assassin, and now I'm on my way to try and kick her ass. I'm just peachy." Logan said sarcastically.

"I'm going to tell you this right now, kid. Get all that stuff out of your head. We're going into a fight and we need everyone on their toes. Mother or not, she's a professional killer. That probably means she wouldn't think twice about taking anyone of us out, so keep your guard up and stay on your toes." Logan said as they entered the hanger where Beast, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, Jean, Kitty, Storm, & Wolverine's young clone, X23.

"All right, this isn't a game. We're going to try and stop an assassination attempt, so discretion matters the most! This is a very dangerous mission, and there is no room for any joking or goofing around! Now let's move out." Wolverine said.

"Is there room on dat steel condor for one more?" a southern voice said.

"That depends. You here as a member of this team, or showing off?" Wolverine asked him.

"Loyalty has always been one of Remy's strong points. I'm one of you now, so I'll make sure your asses are covered. Including yours, chere." Gambit said as he nodded to Rogue.

"Get in the jet." Wolverine said.

Logan just let out a small growl as Gambit turned and winked at Rogue.

"Remind me why I can't castrate him?" Logan asked her.

"Because it's not you." She said and gave him a passionate French kiss that made Gambit look away and scowl as he boarded the jet. "Feel better?" she asked him.

"Yeah, I do. Just be careful, okay?" Logan asked her.

"Don't worry, suga, I candle myself." Rogue told him as they walked onto the blackbird.

* * *

According to the information they had acquired, Lady Death Strike had based herself just outside the Washington DC city limits. Saying everyone was nervous would have been an understatement. Jean could hear everyone's thoughts as Scott looked for a place to set down the blackbird. Scott's thoughts were only hoping he could protect his tem, including Jean. He had to be one of the noblest men she knew. Kurt was saying the Lord 's Prayer over and over in his head. Kitty was close to panicking inside her head. Out of all of them, it was Logan Jean felt sorry for. She could see images of his mother and him when he was younger. Images of her caring for him and loving him, protecting him from whatever the world might throw at him.

'_How could this have happened? Is this why she disappeared? God mom, why didn't you tell me?'_ Logan thought.

"Jean, are you okay?" Cyclops asked her.

"Yeah." Jean said. _'I'm worried about Logan.'_ She thought to Scott.

'_I'll keep an eye on him. If this really is his mother, he might let her get away.'_ Scott told her. "I'm going to set the blackbird in that construction site, and we can walk the rest of the way." Scott told everyone.

"Good idea. Remember, keep low and don't let yourself be seen." Wolverine said as Scott landed the blackbird and activated the cloaking device. "X and Logan, we'll go out first and see how many guards are guarding the place. The rest of you follow in five minutes." Wolverine said as the three clawed mutants moved out.

The rest of the team moved out as Wolverine had said. They approached the warehouse the way they had been trained, making sure they weren't seen. They soon found Wolverine hiding behind what was left of a totaled H1 and tried to get close to him while remaining hidden.

"_Mic check. Is everyone's comm. link up and running?"_ Logan asked into the small wireless earpiece.

"Loud and clear, Logan." Cyclops said.

"_Panther, what have you found?"_ Wolverine asked.

"_X23 and I found two soldiers on the East side, and what looks like two droids on the South side."_ Wolverine said.

"_All right. I'll take out the droids, you and Rogue take out the two guards. We need to know what traps they've got inside."_

"_Any ideas, Rogue?"_ Logan asked his girlfriend.

"Ah might have one in mind, sugah." She said with a smirk.

* * *

"Man, why the hell did we have to sign up with this damn psycho?" the burly man said as he scratched his bald head.

"Because it pays well, you moron. Besides, I thought you were in it for the action, like me." The other man said in with his Irish accent.

"Maybe, but you're right about the money." The man said.

"Cut the crap." The other said with a laugh. "You've got more hardware on ya than the bleedin' IRA. Come on, admit it. You're a trigger happy bastard." The Irish man said with a grin.

"At least I didn't get a target tattooed on my head." The man said as he sipped water from his bottle, and saw a ninja star strike it dead center.

"It ain't no target." The man said as he removed the wool cap from his head, revealing the large tattoo that covered the front of his bald head. "It's bull's-eye, remember that Deadpool." The Irish man said.

"And they call me crazy." The man said.

"Excuse meh?" a sweet, soft voice asked in a southern accent. Both men turned to the source, and smiled at what they saw.

It was a young woman who looked like her skin had to be as soft as silk, with auburn hair cut to just below her shoulders with one streak of white at the front of it. She was wearing a black long sleeve top with green around the front and leggings that acted like a second skin to her body.

"Mah car broke down aways back, and I was hoping that maybe one of ya'll could help me get it started again. It's just so hot today, and ah don't know what ah'll do if ah can't get mah AC going." She said as she clutched the unseen zipper in the front of her top, and unzipped down enough to reveal her cleavage and the black braw that gently hugged her – "gifts."

"Man, oh man. I think I could go for a little southern comfort." Deadpool said with a wide grin.

"And what are you gonna do? Blow up her bloody car?" Bullseye asked him.

"Oh, now ah think two strong men like you can figure somethin' out." Rogue said as she walked up to them and placed a hand against Deadpool and Bullseye's cheek while two bare strong hands clutched the back of their bald heads.

"Oh, that Deadpool's mind is just sick and wrong." Logan said as he slipped his glove back on as the two bald men fell to the floor unconscious.

"Hey, that Irish guy ain't any better either." Rogue said as she put her gloves on and zipped up her uniform.

"So when did you start wearing a bra like that?" Logan asked her.

"Mah little secret." Rogue said as she kissed him on the lips.

"All right, you can suck face on your own time. What did you get?" Wolverine asked them as the rest of the X-Men followed.

"There're a couple of surveillance systems and a few motion sensors, nothing big." Rogue said.

"That doesn't sound right, not for a terrorists planning an assassination." Cyclops said.

"I concur. There's something that doesn't seem to fit." Beast said.

"We'll figure it out later. Right now, we move in. Panther, Rogue, you take the lead since you know the layout." Wolverine said.

"One problem. Dumb and Dumb Ass here don't know tha code for the door. Someone has ta open it from the inside." Rogue said.

"I think ol' Remy might have the right kind of lock pick." Gambit said as he removed a playing car from his jacket pocket, slid it in the door close to the high tech lock, and let go when it began to glow. The card exploded with enough force that it not only took out the lock, but half the door and part of the wall. "Looks like ol' Remy put a little too much into dat one." Gambit said.

"Here's hoping you didn't let them know we're here. Panther, Rogue, lead the way." Wolverine said.

* * *

"It's confirmed. The intruders have taken out the outer defenses and have infiltrated the base." The man at the console said.

"Excellent. I was planning on those two fools to fail." The woman said as she popped her knuckles, and a slight metallic sound echoed with each pop.

"Should we send the others to intercept?" the man asked as he kept the cameras trained on the young people who were in their base of operations. As per ordered, he kept some of the cameras trained on the tall broad man with the navy blue suit with what looked like yellow claw marks on the side of it.

"No, not yet. Separate them first. I don't care what you do with the others, but I want to face him alone." The woman said as she pointed to the older man.

"Wait a minute. I think there's something wrong with some of the tracking equipment." The technician said.

"What do you mean?" she asked him.

"According to the data, there are two other people with an adamantium skeleton." The tech said.

"What? Show me." The woman said.

Within seconds, the image of all the young mutants changed to x-rays of moving skeletons. Out of all the green skeletons, three were highlighted in blue, and both were slightly shorter than the man they had been tracking.

"According to this, each have the same weapons as the primary target." The tech said.

"The smaller one I was informed about, but this other one intrigues me. Separate both from the others, and isolate them. I want to see how the other does after I've handled our primary target." She said.

"Done. The computer has also been set on automatic and will only obey your commands." The tech said.

"Excellent." The woman said before something pierced through the tech's skull and showered several monitors and the keyboard with crimson before his body slumped over lifelessly.

* * *

"This doesn't smell right." Wolverine said.

"What do you mean, Logan?" Beast asked him.

"I've been on several missions like this, and none of them are this easy." He said.

"Easy? We've bumped into several guards, cameras, and booby trap. And that's just in the past five minutes." Kitty said.

"Yeah, but with people planning something this big should have more security than what we've seen." Wolverine said.

"Then doesn't that mean were walking into a,"

Cyclops didn't finish as the part of the floor opened, with most of the X-Men falling through it, except Wolverine and Logan. Beast and Jean were able to climb out while Rogue was holding onto the ledge, barley holding onto the ledge.

"ROGUE!" Logan yelled as he slid to where Rogue was hanging on and grabbed onto her hand. "I've got you, Rogue." Logan said and tried to pull her up.

"Logan, let go or you'll fall in!" Rogue shouted at him.

"I'm not letting go." Logan grunted as he tried to pull her up.

That's when he heard the strange noise and saw the doors ere going to close on her. Logan took his right hand away, and jammed his claws into the floor and part of the trap door, keeping it from moving. Even though the adamantium wasn't bending, the stress on his limb from the door was agonizing.

"BEAST, HELP ME!" Logan shouted as loud as he could, trying to keep his hand on Rogue.

"I've got her!" McCoy shouted as he pulled Rogue out of the hole and allowing Logan to yank his claws free.

The trap door slammed with a loud, echoing bang as the three of them fell onto their backs. Logan sat up and went to Rogue's side to check on her.

"You okay?" he asked her.

"Ah've got a headace the size of Mars, but Ah'll live. What about the others?" she asked him.

"They're fine. The trap door leads into some kind of sub basement." Jean said as she stretched out her mind to find them.

"Great. Hank, take Jean and Rogue to find the rest." Wolverine told them.

"Logan, it's unwise that we split up right now." Hank told him.

"We don't have a choice. The others can't walk away from a fire fight, we can. Now let's go." Wolverine said.

"Be careful." Logan said to Rogue.

"You too." Rogue said as they split up and took their separate ways.

* * *

"Excellent." The woman said as she observed to red stained monitor and smiled with sadistic glee. "I think it's time for Logan and I to have our reunion." The woman said as she left the control room.

* * *

"Is it me, or am I starting to feel like a rat in a maze?" Logan asked his father.

"They're trying to confuse us. I'm starting to think that this isn't an assassination attempt. Everything's too thought out." Wolverine said.

"So it's all just a trap for us?" Logan asked.

"It's starting to look like it. Ah, damn." Wolverine said as they came to a fork in the hallway.

"I can't smell anything, how about you?" Logan asked.

"Not one damn scent. So are you left handed or right handed?" Wolverine asked him.

"Right handed."

"Then take the left, and I'll take the right. If you find any trouble, contact me. Got it?" Wolverine asked.

"Got it." Logan said as they each took a corridor. "But if I get chased by a giant boulder, I'm blaming you." Logan said.

* * *

It wasn't too much longer until Wolverine found himself in a large room of the warehouse. Including the way he came in, there were three ways in and out. There were a few monitors along with elevated platforms tht had a few maps and blue prints pinned to the walls. Whoever was here was obviously planning something, he just didn't know what. As he walked further into the room, his nose picked up something. A scent. Something so familiar that it sent his head spinning as a rush of memories came flooding to his mind all at once. That woman, it was Logan's mother. Her face was in his mind as all the images were flashing all at once.

"LOGAN!" a voice cried, but Logan knew who it was. He would know that voice anywhere.

"Yuriko?" he asked as he looked up and saw her.

She was a tall woman, around 5'11". She had long silky black hair that was tied back in a ponytail. She was she wore a black body suit that hugged her frame and showed that she was slender and had a very athletic build to her. Her eyes were a rich chocolate brown and she was a very beautiful woman. But the only look on her face was a sneer, as if the sight of Wolverine disgusted her.

"It's been a long time, Logan." She said as she began to walk around Logan slowly, like a predator examining its prey.

Wolverine caught another scent, and quickly glanced at one of the other exits, and saw his son around a corner. As he looked back to Yuriko, he held made a gesture with his hand to tell Logan not to show himself. Young Logan was trying hard to control his breathing and anxiety as he saw Yuriko walk. She looked exactly the way she did when he last saw her all those years ago. She was acting differently, but that was to be expected. But Logan could hardly believe it was her.

"It has been a long time." Logan said.

"I always hoped that one day, we would see each other again." Yuriko said to him.

"I guess it's true when you hear 'Everything comes to he who waits.'" Logan said.

"And I have waited so very long for this moment. I am going to enjoy killing you where you stand." She growled. This statement threw the younger Logan for a loop.

"What are you talking about, Yuriko?" Logan asked her.

"Don't play dumb, you animal. You know why I hate you." She spat.

"Yuriko, my head's been messed with so much that I'm lucky I remember how to take a piss." He said.

"I had heard that. One of your missions you went on, Weapon X. You were to retrieve a scientist, and you killed him instead. You snapped his neck without a care in the world." She growled.

"I don't remember, Yuriko. Why do you care about a scientist?" he asked her.

"HE WAS MY FATHER!" she screamed.

"What?" he asked her.

"You, the man I thought I loved, murdered my father in cold blood. Do you know how much I wanted to kill you after that?" she asked him.

"I don't remember. If I did, I'm sorry. But that makes us even. You never told me about my son." He said to her.

"What son?" she asked him.

"Don't play games, Yuriko. I know you were pregnant with my son." Logan told her.

"Then you heard a lie. Do you think I would carry such filth? If I was pregnant with your child, I would kill it as soon it was born!" she spat at him.

Those words hit like arrows into young Logan's heart as he heard them. He grimaced as he felt anguish fill him. Is that why she had left? Is that why he couldn't find her because she had hated him? Then why let him live? Or did she hope he would die that night? He didn't know, and he didn't care right now. His heart just had a piece of it ripped out.

"I'm tired of this talk, Logan. I'm going to kill you slowly, and enjoy it." She said with as much venom as she muster.

"And how are you going to do that?" Wolverine growled as he extended his claws.

"Why do you think I call myself Lady Deathstrike?" she asked him as she held up her hand and stretched out her fingers. Soon, Adamantium claw like spikes extended from every one of her fingers, including her thumbs, until each were nine inches in length.

"Holy shit." Wolverine said as she charged and he followed suit.

Both fought each other full force as each yelled with every slash, swipe, and stab. Wolverine was on the bad part of the receiving end, his uniform becoming decorated with rips and blood stains. Yuriko slashed Wolverine across the face and kicked him into the crotch before she bashed her head against his with the echoing sound of metal clashing against metal echoing through the large room. Wolverine was on his hands and knees as he felt the wounds on his feet seal close and popped his neck. Deathstrike was fixing to bring down one hand against his neck with a sadistic smile until she felt a sharp pain through her stomach. She looked down and saw the tips of three spikes piercing out the front of her abdomen.

"You want him, you'll have to go through me bitch!" Young Logan growled as he withdrew his spikes and slashed them down the middle of her back, causing her to yell in pain.

Yuriko turned and took a good look at her new opponent, and almost did a double take at him. Besides his long hair and younger appearance, he was almost Logan's double.

"Who are you?" she growled.

"Just another pain in your ass." Logan growled as he lunged and almost slashed her chest.

Wolverine soon joined the fray, both of them trying to immobilize the psychotic woman in front of them. Yuriko was meeting them evenly with each attack they brought. Logan tried to land a punch to her face, only for her to spin away and repeatedly jab Wolverine several times in the back before his elbow slammed against the side of her head.

"Why isn't she down?" Logan asked.

"Beats me." Wolverine growled as Yuriko attacked again.

Wolverine dodged, but Logan received three slashed across the face. Logan rewarded her by grabbing her wrist and shoving his claws through her the space in-between the bones of her forearm, and the slashed her across her face with his other claws. She looked at the young mutant with nothing but hatred in her eyes, and both saw the cuts on their faces heal almost instantly. That's when Logan smelled her scent, and the shock he received from it distracted him long enough for her to yank her arm of his claws, and shove hers through his side. Logan yelled in pain as Wolverine came and grabbed Deathstrike in a headlock and pulled her away from Logan.

"IF YOU HURT HIM AGAIN, I'LL RIP YOUR DAMN THROAT OUT!" Wolverine shouted as he dragged her off.

Logan was panting as he tried to force the pain in his side to go away but it still hurt too much. He was so distracted that he didn't see someone kneel in front of him.

"Oh God Logan, what she did she do?" she asked, causing Logan to look up.

"Rogue?" he asked her in shock.

"Just shut up and let me look at it." She said.

"Rogue, get out of here! NOW!" he shouted.

"Forget it, Ah'm not leavin you." She said before she was grabbed by the back of the throat and yanked to her feet.

Deathstrike wrapped her arm around her neck as Logan stood with Wolverine by his side.

"Leave her out of this, Yuriko!" Wolverine shouted.

"I don't think so, Logan." Yuriko panted as she tightened her hold on Rogue. She didn't notice Rogue trying to remover her glove.

"Let her go, please. I'm begging you, don't hurt her." Logan said to the deadly woman in front of him.

"I'm not as dumb as you think. You're Logan's son, aren't you?" she asked him.

"What if he is?" Wolverine growled.

"Careful Logan. You wouldn't want me to ruin such flawless, smooth skin. Would you?" she asked him, taunting him as one of her claws pricked Rogue's ear. "You're in love with her, aren't you?" she asked the young Logan.

"I am." He answered.

"Then you already sealed her fate." Deathstrike growled as she pierced four of her claws through Rogue's abdomen, causing Rogue to let out a blood curdling scream.

"**_NO!"_** Logan screamed as she withdrew her claws and shoved her to the floor.

"YOU HEARLTESS BITCH!" Wolverine screamed and attacked Yuriko with everything he had in him.

Logan rushed to Rogue's side as she was clutching her stomach and crying.

"Rogue, I'm so sorry." Logan said as he held her in his arms.

"It hurts." Rogue said as Logan saw the blood, her blood, falling to the cold cement floor.

He looked up and saw his father and Deathstrike fighting each other full force. Logan's breathing was quickening as he felt his anger build to such a level that he felt like his veins were going to break through his skin. His fist tightened so tightly that his glove began to rip away and exposing the skin.

"Just hold on, darling. I'll be right back." Logan said as he set her down.

Yuriko had just stabbed Wolverine several times through the chest, and landed blows hard enough to his knees that it would have broken the bones of any normal man. Her knee made contact with his abs, and then her foot struck him in the face which forced him to fall.

"Looks like your death will have to wait, Logan." Deathstrike said with a smirk.

As she turned to leave, she felt three claws being shoved hard into her gut with a loud, feral yell/scream. Her eyes were partially bulging as she saw the young mutant grab her by the throat with his bare hand and felt something draining out of her. She grabbed his wrist, trying to make him pull the claws out. He wouldn't budge though. Then she started screaming in agony as she felt him slowly starting to rotate the claws while they were still in her, and her wounds weren't completely healed.

"Does that hurt, bitch?" Logan shouted as he shoved his other claws in her as he kept turning the first, and began to turn the other claws.

Logan was fixing to pull the claws out of her which would rip her abdomen apart. He wanted this bitch to feel pain and die screaming for what she had done. His mind was gone and all instinct was in control. Nothing but pain, rage, and hate was in his mind as he gritted his teeth so hard that his gums began to bleed. Before he could do anything else, he saw another pair of claws pierce through her throat. Yuriko moved her mouth as she tried to talk, but only gurgling noises could be heard as blood pooled inside her throat. As the other set of claws retracted, Yuriko collapsed to the floor, sliding off of Logan's claws. Logan looked up and saw his father standing there, panting hard with a look of remorse and guilt on his face.

"You shouldn't have to know what it's like to kill someone. Trust me, kid. It ain't worth it." He said as Logan looked at his blood stained claws and couldn't believe what he almost did. That's when he remembered.

"ROGUE!" Logan shouted as he retracted his claws and ran to her, holding her in his arms as he went to his knees. "Rogue? Baby?" he asked her.

"I'm gettin cold." She said.

She was looking really pale, and she was almost whispering her words.

"This is bad." Logan said.

"Rogue, don't leave. Please, Rogue. I love you too much." Logan said as he felt his own tears start to fall.

"I love you too." She said to him as her eye lids started to get heavy.

"Rogue, NO! Don't close your eyes! Don't go to sleep on me! Stay awake! Please, don't go. Stay with me, please." Logan begged.

"She ain't yet, kid. Over my dead body, she is." Wolverine said as he yanked off his gloves. He took Rogue from him, her eyes already closed, and placed a bare hand on her head. But nothing. Nothing was happening.

"Come on, Stripes. Don't do this." Wolverine said as he held Rogue against him in a bear hug.

That's when Logan felt it. His cheek was touching her cheek, and felt something happening. He was feeling weak and tired, and he could feel a few of his wounds begin to reopen. That's when opened her eyes with a loud gasp and shoved Wolverine off of her. She was panting for air as she looked down, ripped part of her uniform open, and saw the stab wounds heal on their own until they were gone.

"Rogue?" Logan asked as he saw her.

She held Logan in a tight hug as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.

"I thought I lost you." He said.

"Not that easily, bub. Aw, man. Not again." Rogue half moaned, causing Logan to laugh.

"If you two are finished?" Wolverine asked as he slowly got to his shaky legs. "Did you find the others?"

"Yeah. They had a problem with a couple of armed thugs, but they're okay. They decided to head back to tha jet when they saw you and Logan fighting that woman on the security system." Rogue told Logan, shuddering as she remembered how that console looked with that dead guy. Thank God Storm turned her away as McCoy checked the dead guy.

"Then let's get the hell out of here." Wolverine said as they left the way Rogue had come in.

As they left, Yuriko pulled out a small device from a pocket in her suit. It had a single red button on it and nothing else. She could still feel blood flooding into her throat and didn't know if this wound would heal in time. Better safe than sorry. Shaking and slowly, she slid her thumb over the button and pressed. The remote began beeping as the button lit itself. She then let her arm fall and let her mind decide what else to do.

* * *

The gun men tried to stand up as they gauged their injuries. They were following their orders to the letter, but they didn't expect for these people to fight back. And they sure didn't expect them to fight back the way they did. All of it was like something from a comic book. One guy was firing laser, _LASERS,_ from his eyes. One guy looked like some kind of weird elf, and a girl phasing through walls? What the hell did they sign up to fight? They all saw they weren't the worse for wear, and nothing felt broken but their pride. They considered themselves lucky this time.

"Is everyone accounted for?" the leader, a man in his mid fifties, asked.

"Everyone's still here. It looks like no one's seriously injured." His second said.

"Then let get ready to move out. They don't pay us enough for this." The leader said.

That's when alarms started to sound through out the base, and all the doors came slamming down, sealing off every window, door, and corridor. The soldiers rushed the door, banging on the door and pressing the buttons on the panel to try and get it to work.

"Corporal, access the computer and find out what the hell is going on!" the leader said.

"YES, SIR!" the young man asked as he took out a hand held computer and linked it to the computer data port. It only took him a few seconds to hack into the mainframe. "All other access has been denied. Deathstrike's codes are the only ones that will work and she's activated the self destruct."

"Can you override her commands?"

"No, sir. The entire place is on lock down. What do we do now, sir?" he asked their leader.

He simply looked at the young man and simply said one thing.

"We die."

* * *

The sun was slowly setting on the mansions property, and Logan was watching it as he sat on the cliff that was overlooking the ocean. He was reflecting back on their recent mission, and couldn't believe hat had happened. He almost let his girlfriend die, and he almost murdered someone. He remembered the screams that Deathstrike let out as he twisted those claws, and he was enjoying the fact that he was making her suffer. He was completely ready to kill her that way. If his dad hadn't killed her first – what kind of monster was he?

"Hey, stranger." A very familiar and comforting voice said.

"Hey, Rogue. How are you feeling?" he asked her as she sat next to him, wearing her leggings, and her green tank top. Logan removed his gloves as he held her hand in his.

"Better, I think." She said.

"You think?"

"I'm getting this weird craving for a fat Cuban cigar." She said, causing Logan to chuckle.

"Here's hoping that's the only habit you got from dad." Logan said as he let out a sigh.

"Logan, I got your dad's memories. If tht thing with your mom is bothering ya,"

"She wasn't my mother." Logan said.

"Logan, I know she tried to kill me. But,"

"No Rogue. When I was fighting her, I got a whiff of her scent. Her scent was completely different. She wasn't my mother." He told her.

"Wait a minute. You said your powers didn't show up until you got your claws. How do you know what your mom's scent is?" Rogue asked her.

"One of the things I still have is a lock of her hair. I got lost in a store and got really scared and upset that I wouldn't see her again. When she found me and took me home, she gave me a lock of her hair. I've kept it, and it still has her scent. What I smelled on that woman wasn't my mother's scent. It wasn't her. I also touched her and took her memories. It wasn't her." Logan said.

"Then that means,"

"I still don't know what happened to my mom." Logan said.

"I'm sorry." She said.

"Don't be. Now I know. Can I ask you something?" he asked Rogue.

"You know ya can."

"Why do you love me?" Logan asked her.

"Why are ya askin that?" she asked.

"Rogue, I almost killed that woman. I was making her suffer for what she did, and I was enjoying it. I was going to kill her, Rogue. I just need to know what you see in a monster like me." He said to her.

"Logan, you're not a monster. Trust meh, I've seen them. It is a little disturbing to hear you say that, but I remember hat she did to meh and what she was going to do to the others. I'm glad ya didn't kill her, but I'm not upset about you giving what that woman deserved. Logan, you can control yourself. You would rather help others than yourself, and you have to be me one of the most gentle and kind man I know. The kind I said I'd never fall for. And I love you Logan, no matter what." She said as she grasped his lips in hers in a slow loving kiss.

"I love you, Rogue. I don't ever want to loose you. I'd think I'd either die or go nuts if I did." He said to her as he stroked her soft face. "Can I ask you something else?" he asked her.

"What's that?" she asked as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"It's going to be more like a promise until you're older enough." Logan started, and this caused Rogue to raise her head up. "Rogue, will you marry m,"

Before Logan could finish, Rogue tackled him to the ground and kissed as deeply and passionate as she could put into a kiss. Logan was surprised at first, but soon returned the kiss as best as he could. Rogue broke the kiss and looked at him.

"You're proposing, right?" Rogue asked him.

"Yeah."

"Then yes, I will." Rogue said and kissed him again.

* * *

Jean was tired and just walked out of the wonderful hot shower to ease her muscles. It had been a wild day that day and she just wanted to fall onto her bed and go to sleep. She couldn't wait to feel her mattress and cool sheets against her skin. As she walked down the hall, her mind picked up something. It was strange. She focused on it, and felt it was more than one emotion happening at one time. It was passion, pleasure, and love. The love was the strongest, second only to pleasure. What in the world was going on?

She followed the emotions down the hall and around the corner. She could sense she was getting closer. She was wondering how someone could be creating such powerful emotions, when she found the source. The sudden wave of it almost knocked her over. She looked and saw that it was coming from Logan's room. She raised an eyebrow as she slowly opened the door a crack and peeked inside. What she saw made her gasp and quickly close the door. From what she was sensing, no one noticed that she had peeked. She just leaned against the door as her face turned redder than her ruby red hair. She tried to suppress a giggle since it felt like she was in on a big secret.

"Jean, are you okay?" Kitty asked as she came walking to her dorm room.

"Oh! Um, yeah. I-I'm fine." Jean said.

"Oookay. Have you seen Rogue? She was going to help me with some homework." Kitty asked.

"She – she's in Logan's room. You better give her about ten minutes." Jean said as a moan escaped from the room; muffled by the closed door and causing Kitty to raise an eyebrow. "Better make that fifty." Jean said as she walked away, trying not to giggle. "Oh, and don't peek." Jean added as she walked off.

"What is she talking about?" Kitty asked, feeling more confused than ever.

She walked to the door of Logan's room, wondering what was going on that made Jean act so weird. Kitty heard another moan escape from the door, and knew that Rogue was the one that had made it. Curiosity got the better of her as she phased her face through the door, and then retracted backwards quickly with a loud gasp.

"WHOA!" Kitty said as her face turned red.

She peeked inside one more time, and then retracted it back again. The only look on her face was one of amazement and slight shock.

"Wow. Rogue sure knows how to pick them." Kitty said and walked back to her room.

* * *

"Logan, I don't even want to know how you got the hair sample from Miss Deathstrike." McCoy said as he worked in his lab.

"Good, cause I don't want to tell it." Logan said as he lit a cigar and took a long drag from it.

"Hank, do you have the results of the test yet?" Xavier asked the blue mutant.

"They're printing now, Charles." Hank said as he adjusted his glasses.

Ever since he read the report that Hank and Logan had given him, he had become worried about the reaction young Logan would have. Especially if his theories were true. He would need to talk to him later about what had happen back at the base. It was obvious now that the information was apart of a trap for Wolverine. But who could have helped her create it?

"This isn't good Charles. You were right. Yuriko wasn't Logan's biological mother. They do not have any DNA in common what so ever." Hank said.

"I don't get it Charles. Logan has the picture, and you said his mind wasn't messed with like mine." Logan said to the bald man.

"I wish I knew Logan. I promise I'll keep looking." Xavier said.

"Thanks, Chuck." Wolverine said and headed upstairs.

"Charles!" Hank said, getting his attention.

"What is it Hank?" Charles asked him.

"I found a match in our database." McCoy said.

"You found his mother in our database?" Charles asked.

"I think so." Hank said and pointed to the information on the screen

"Oh my God." Charles said as he saw the information.

* * *

Logan slept soundly in his bed, exhausted but happy as he held and slowly caressed the bare flesh of the woman he loved that was asleep on top of him. He couldn't believe what they had just done together, and had the feeling that it had all felt right. He held her tighter against him and kissed the top of her head. Wild flowers; it was such a wonderful smell.

'_All X-Men report to the main foyer.'_

Logan just groaned as he opened his eyes and let out a deep breath.

"Talk about a mood killer, huh?" Rogue asked, her hair in her eyes and a complete mess. But she was smiling.

"Looking at you, darlin? Never." Logan said.

Rogue chuckled and kissed him on the lips.

"Thank you, Rogue." Logan said as he held her.

"For what?" she asked him.

"For making my first time memorable." He told her.

"That was your first time?" Rogue asked, shocked to believe what she was hearing.

"Yeah, why?" he asked her.

"For your first time, that was pretty good. Thanks for making my first time memorable too." She said as she kissed him again. "Where are my panties?" she asked as she sat up.

"Are they that shredded pair of black cloth?" he asked her.

"No, that's what s left of my bra. Note for next time, don't use your claws for removing underwear." She told him as she grabbed her clothes and started to put them on.

"You sure didn't seem to mind last night." He said with a grin and causing his girlfriend to blush slightly.

* * *

Rogue and Logan exited his bedroom in their normal clothes, both smiling broadly as their gloved hands clasped together. Kitty and Jean soon joined them and did their best not to giggle or let on that they knew.

"You know Rogue, you were supposed to help me with that math homework last night. Where were you?" Kitty asked.

"Oh, sorry! Logan and I were- um – talking last night and we dosed off." Rogue said.

"Oh. I was hoping that you two weren't doing something that was too much work." Kitty said with a sly grin.

'_KITTY!'_ Jean shot at her telepathicly.

"What? I didn't say anything." Kitty said to Jen, causing her t hold the bridge of her nose and shake her head.

"Okay, what's goin on?" Rogue asked them.

"Logan, Rogue, I'll just say this. You don't need Wolverine's sense of smell to know what you two were doing last night." Jean said as her and Kitty walked off, with Kitty still trying her best not to laugh.

Logan and Rogue were just standing there, stunned. They couldn't believe what had just happened then.

"They know." Rogue said.

"Yup. Y-you don't think this I why the Professor wants to see us, do you?" Logan asked her.

"I hope not. Do ya think anyone else knows?" Rogue asked him.

"I guess were fixing to find out." Logan said as they both gulped.

* * *

Logan and Rogue were sitting on a couch as the others were standing about the foyer. Everyone in the mansion was there, including the new mutants. And the Swamp Thing. Rogue and Logan were nervous as hell as they held each others hand, wondering if this was them getting in trouble. Logan glanced over at his father, and saw him sniffing the air with a strange look on his face. As he continued to sniff, he looked at the young couple. Logan just tried to look forward and gulped again. He took another quick glance again, and saw his father rise an eyebrow with a slight smirk on his face. Logan then let out a silent groan as he closed his eyes.

"Students, I know you are aware of the recent mission the X-Men were on. As a result of that mission, I have found out some new information. We believed that young Logan's mother was the assassin known as Lady Deathstrike. I'm sorry to inform you that we were wrong." Charles said and let the news sink in. Logan could hear all of them apologizing. He just waved at them, saying it was okay. "However, we have found a lead to the true identity of Logan's mother." Charles told them.

Logan and his father immediately stiffened as they heard what Xavier said. None of them could speak as it seemed that time began to sit still.

"You heard me correctly. We can't confirm it, so that's why Storm, Hank, and myself are going to investigate this new lead. Which means that Wolverine will be in charge." Charles said.

"Oh no." Jubilee groaned.

"Keep it up, squirt." Logan said.

"Are you sure you have to leave, Professor?" Jean asked him who was standing on the stairs with her boyfriend Scott.

"I'm afraid so, Jean." The Professor said.

"If you go, can you make sure these guys don't throw anymore partie-AAGGHH!" Jean screamed as her footing slip and she began to fall.

Logan was up and ran as fast as he could. Scott had her hand but it slipped and caused her to fall again. Logan barley made it as he swooped in and caught her in his arms. But because Jean couldn't control her fall, no one saw her hand until it landed square on Logan's face. Logan felt more energy flow into him than he had ever felt in his entire life. But something was wrong, it shouldn't be this quick. He let Jean go quickly as the others rushed to see if Jean was okay.

"Are you all right?" Wolfs bane asked her.

"I think so. I'm just really light headed." Jean said.

"Thanks Logan. I – Logan?" Scott asked.

Everyone looked at Logan as he was on his knees and clutching his head. He was groaning like he was in another fight.

"T-there's someone here." Logan groaned.

"Logan, you have my powers. You're probably hearing the others thoughts." Jean said as she walked to him.

"N-no. Y-you don't understand. T-t-there's someone else in here! IN MY HEAD! SOMETHING'S IN MY HEAD!" Logan shouted as his face twisted in agony.

The Professor probed Logan's mind to see what was wrong, and his eyes bolted open in horror.

"Storm, get everyone out of here now!" Charles shouted to Storm.

"Get out of my head! Get out of my head! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Logan screamed at the top of his lungs.

That's when his eyes were engulfed in a yellow fire, almost like they were becoming fire. His screams became more like an eagle's call across the open sky. That's when his body began to look like it was igniting into to flame. Without warning, a massive bolt of energy, looking like a pillar of fire, erupted and consumed him as a massive shockwave blew everyone backwards. The only thing they could see was the massive flaming pillar of energy.

"LOGAN!" Rogue screamed as she got to her feet and rushed to the pillar, only for another shockwave to send her and the other back even further.

The Professor was on the ground while his chair had been knocked through the front door. He looked up, trying to get his vision to focus on what was happening before him. As he finally saw the energy in front of him, he saw a shape forming. As it walked to the professor, the pillar died away but it still looked like the figure was on fire. The Professor looked up as the figure stopped moving and examined its own body.

"This is not what I would have chosen, but it will do." Logan said in Jean's voice.

"Jean?" the Professor asked.

"Not quite, _Professor_ Xavier." It said with its voice dripping with venom and its eyes still glowing like fire.

"Phoenix!" the Professor said in shock.

"I'm so glad you remembered." Phoenix said as it extended Logan's claws.


End file.
